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A VISION FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMYWaste Strategy 2020-2025 CONSULTATION DRAFT
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© 2020 Green Industries SA
Green Industries SA is pleased to allow this material
to be reproduced in whole or in part, provided the
meaning is unchanged and its source, publisher and
authorship are acknowledged.
Published by:
Green Industries SA
GPO Box 1047, Adelaide SA 5001
Telephone (08) 8204 2051
www.greenindustries.sa.gov.au
ISBN: 978-1-921114-26-7
Acknowledgement of country
We acknowledge and respect the Traditional Custodians whose ancestral lands we live and work upon and we pay our respects to their Elders past and present. We acknowledge and respect their deep spiritual connection and the relationship that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people have to Country.
We also pay our respects to the cultural authority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their nations in South Australia, as well as those across Australia.
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Contents A message from the Minister ........................................................................................................................... 5 A message from the Presiding Member ............................................................................................................ 7 PART 1 ......................................................................................................................................................... 14 Evaluation of South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2015-2020 ............................................................................... 14
South Australia: a waste management journey ........................................................................................... 15 Policy settings and economic modelling ............................................................................................ 17 International leadership .................................................................................................................. 19 Progress in work during 2015-2020 to support a transition to a circular economy................................. 20 Progress in meeting 2015-2020 goals and targets .............................................................................. 28 Resource recovery........................................................................................................................... 30 Municipal solid waste and kerbside performance............................................................................... 33 Food waste diversion from households ............................................................................................. 35
PART 2 ......................................................................................................................................................... 39 Draft ‘South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025: A vision for a circular economy’ .......................................... 39 Contents ...................................................................................................................................................... 40 What will guide the 2020-2025 Waste Strategy? ............................................................................................. 41
Framework and principles ......................................................................................................................... 41 A framework for waste management ......................................................................................................... 42 Key guiding principles for waste management in South Australia .................................................................. 42 The global landscape ................................................................................................................................ 44
Waste Strategy Objective .............................................................................................................................. 45 Targets for 2020-2025 ................................................................................................................................... 46
South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025 proposed targets ..................................................................... 47 Broader quantitative actions to achieve proposed targets ............................................................................ 48
Partnerships ................................................................................................................................................. 50 Evaluation and reporting ............................................................................................................................... 51 Priorities for action ....................................................................................................................................... 52
Areas with the potential for greatest impact ............................................................................................... 52 1. Transitioning to a circular economy .................................................................................................. 53 2. Market development ....................................................................................................................... 56 3. Infrastructure capability and capacity ............................................................................................... 58 4. Food waste ..................................................................................................................................... 60 5. Plastics and packaging ..................................................................................................................... 63 Priority actions by waste stream .................................................................................................................... 66
Municipal solid waste ............................................................................................................................... 66 Commercial and industrial waste ............................................................................................................... 70 Construction and demolition waste ............................................................................................................ 72
Other priority actions (relevant to all streams) ................................................................................................ 74 Natural disasters and other disruptive events ............................................................................................. 74 Finding solutions for emerging and problematic wastes ............................................................................... 77 Waste reform, litter and illegal dumping..................................................................................................... 81
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Competitiveness and innovation ................................................................................................................ 83 Research and development ....................................................................................................................... 85 Energy from waste .................................................................................................................................... 87
References ................................................................................................................................................... 90
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A message from the Minister South Australia can be proud of its considerable achievements in the recycling and recovery of waste and for building a resilient resource recovery sector.
Our state has rightly earned a reputation as a global leader in innovative waste management and green industry development.
South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025 reflects a firm ambition to create local solutions to our waste and recycling issues and to expand the sector. South Australia has an incredible opportunity to ensure the full value of our resources is unlocked while we build a stronger state economy.
Our objective is to support South Australia’s growing transition to a ‘circular economy’ – an economy that is prosperous and regenerative by design. We are already taking steps to facilitate this shift but it will require continued effort to keep materials and resources in use, or ‘circulating’, for as long as possible. This is in contrast to the traditional linear economic system of ‘take, make, use and dispose’ that is wasteful and relies on using finite resources.
We have a vision to make South Australia a national centre-point for reuse, remanufacturing, recycling and composting. The draft Waste Strategy aims to provide the right settings to realise this.
The economic benefits achievable through the better management of resources have been demonstrated. The resource recovery industry is a significant sector of the state’s economy, with an annual turnover of about $1 billion, a contribution of more than $500 million to Gross State Product (directly and indirectly), and employing about 4,800 people. The value of the resources recovered is each year is also significant: in 2017-18 this was estimated at $356 million.
We also know that for each 10,000 tonnes of waste recycled, 9.2 direct FTE jobs are created compared with 2.8 direct FTE jobs created for each 10,000 tonnes of material sent to landfill.
While the achievements of the waste and resource recovery sector are well understood, it is important to recognise the challenging times we are facing globally.
Bushfires devastated parts of South Australia including Kangaroo Island, the Adelaide Hills, the Yorke Peninsula and Keilira in the 2019-20 bushfire season. This generated significant waste debris requiring clean-up to help these communities rebuild and to minimise risks to public health and safety. This work was co-funded by the State and Australian governments and I wish to extend my sincere thank you to everyone involved in this considerable effort.
The impacts of COVID-19 are also being felt in varying ways. Some sectors are experiencing operational difficulties with services closed or reduced. For the waste industry, markets for recyclables may no longer be available or limited, and some sectors are experiencing increased demand for waste management, and others are experiencing less. Now more than ever, we need to recognise effective waste management as an essential service to all sectors of the economy and to the community. We must continue working to improve our infrastructure to ensure recovery of our resources locally to ensure continuity of these services, boost our markets for our recyclables, and work to support our community’s knowledge in how they can support better recycling from their households.
The draft strategy suggests priority actions that will guide activity over five years and provide a resilient framework for us to manage our waste, even during uncertain and challenging times. We want to see these actions build on the resilience and capabilities of our local industry through strategic infrastructure investment, market development, education, and innovation that will boost resource efficiency and create business opportunities locally, around Australia and overseas.
These efforts must be underpinned by strong, coordinated leadership and action at the national and global levels to support market development, investment and policy directions.
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I am excited by the opportunities that exist to facilitate a circular economy. However, it is a complex task requiring some shifts in the way we make and use goods in our economy. The inspired support and action of business, industry, the community and all levels of government will be needed to achieve long-term change. I thank everyone involved in developing the strategy and look forward to its implementation as the foundation of our ‘circular’ future.
DAVID SPEIRS MP Minister for Environment and Water
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A message from the Presiding Member Within South Australia, we have the ability to seize significant environmental and economic opportunities associated with moving to a circular economy.
We can be proud of the state’s achievements in waste management: we are diverting more than 80% of all waste generated from landfill disposal to better purposes through recycling (Rawtec, 2019). This has been underpinned by the delivery of three consecutive waste strategies spanning 2005 to 2020 and the efforts of all South Australians.
However, it is clear that there remains untapped potential in ensuring our resources circulate more within the local economy.
Along with the rest of Australia and many other countries around the world, South Australia’s albeit limited reliance on overseas markets to buy our recyclables makes us vulnerable when those markets are no longer accessible through price drops or trade policy changes. This vulnerability has been heightened in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with many production and supply chains impacted and markets disrupted globally. We are however, also observing positive shifts in behaviour with many sectors adopting new business models to adapt and respond.
Our pressing and ongoing challenge is to ensure our resources circulate more within the local economy by encouraging innovation and best practice in resource recovery, and remanufacturing.
The draft ‘South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025’ suggests a vision for a circular economy. It aims to continue our efforts to achieve environmental gains while creating jobs and boosting the South Australian economy.
It provides a foundation from which to continue work towards a circular economy, realising the economic potential from innovation. It recommends exploring new directions in food
waste and single-use plastics, regulatory waste reforms, education and behaviour change, and, importantly, supporting market development in remanufacturing.
Ultimately, our aim is to help South Australian businesses become more resource efficient, resilient and competitive, which will secure economic advantage while protecting the environment.
Central to these opportunities will be continued support of and collaboration between governments, research and education institutions, industry and business within South Australia, nationally and internationally.
I wish to acknowledge everyone who has helped position South Australia as a leader in resource recovery and pursuing opportunities for a circular economy, and look forward to reviewing your comments and submissions on this draft strategy.
I wish to also acknowledge the remarkable effort undertaken to support the clean-up response following the 2019-20 bushfires experienced in parts of South Australia. The response has demonstrated the extraordinary capacity of individuals, organisations and communities to respond together under challenging conditions and I thank everyone who has been involved.
Kevin McGuinness Presiding Member, Board of Green Industries SA
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Invitation to comment
What is being decided?
The South Australian Government is seeking feedback on the Evaluation of South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2015-2020 and Draft South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025: A Vision
for a Circular Economy (draft Waste Strategy).
The government has a statutory requirement to develop a waste strategy for South Australia. Section 18 (4) of the Green Industries SA Act 2004 requires Green Industries SA to gather
views and submissions and to take these into consideration before developing and adopting a waste strategy for South Australia.
Comments from state and local government agencies, waste management industry, businesses and the community will help Green Industries SA develop the waste strategy and guide
the management of waste in South Australia. Receipt of submissions will be acknowledged by Green Industries SA. Key themes identified from the submissions will be summarised in a
publicly available document, along with how input will be considered in finalising the strategy. The final South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025 will be subject to professional design
before its release.
Become involved
Comments may be provided in writing to:
Green Industries SA
GPO Box 1047
Adelaide SA 5001
or by email to [email protected]
Telephone: (08) 8204 2051
Please include your name, position,
organisation and contact details with your
submission.
The deadline for comments and submissions is
5pm, Friday, 31 July 2020
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Important information about your submission
Submissions will be treated as public documents unless received in confidence subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 1991. They may be quoted in full or part in
subsequent Green Industries SA reports. If you do not want the public to read your answers, please write ‘confidential’ on your submission.
You can make an important contribution by suggesting an alternative or more appropriate approaches to any of the initiatives discussed.
Tips for written submissions
x You may agree or disagree with, or comment on, the general issues discussed or the specific strategies or steps proposed.
x Provide reasons for your comments, supported by relevant data, and attach factual information and sources.
x List points so that issues raised are clear.
x Include a summary of your submission.
x If possible, refer each point to the appropriate section in the document.
x Keep your discussion of different sections of the document distinct and separate.
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Questions we would like you to consider General
To guide the direction of the draft Waste Strategy, we invite your feedback in response to the following questions.
Q1. Are our priorities correct? Why or why not?
Q2. What have we overlooked or needs clarifying or expanding upon?
Q3. Are there any unintended consequences of anything proposed? If so, what are they?
Q4. Can you offer alternative suggestions or solutions to those offered?
Q5. How can you support, participate or work with us in implementing the final strategy?
Stakeholder responses
In addition to the general questions, we invite you to provide additional information and ideas about your objectives, vision and expectations for waste and recycling by 2025, and for
establishing a circular economy in South Australia, by responding to the following questions.
Questions for
all
stakeholders
regarding
COVID-19
Q6 What actions or priorities should South Australia’s waste strategy and future waste strategies include to respond to state and national emergencies, and global
disruptions such as we have experienced with the bushfires and global COVID-19 pandemic?
Community
and
householders
Q7. What are the most important issues to you in relation to waste and recycling?
Q8. Can you offer any ideas for how waste and recycling services could be improved in South Australia?
You may wish to consider issues such as labelling recyclable products, billing of waste services according to services provided, transparency in councils’ waste
management costs, accessibility of bins and food caddies to help recycle your household waste, and ‘closing the loop’ on products entering the recycling stream by
generating demand for recycled products.
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Government,
business and
industry
Waste and recycling sector
Q9. What would you like the waste and recycling industry to have achieved?
Q10. What would you like your organisation to have achieved in waste management, recycling and the circular economy?
Q11. What would need to change to achieve your objectives and what support would you need?
You may wish to consider:
Q9 and Q10 - Objectives in terms of job creation, investment, innovation and commercialisation, increasing export potential, research and development, regulation and
certainty for investment, ensuring the beneficial use of recyclable materials, general barriers to your business.
Q11 - Support in terms of investment, research and development, data and evidence collection, commercialisation and innovation, regulation, collaboration.
Businesses, industry groups, not-for-profit groups and State Government
Q12. As a business, what are the most important issues to you in terms of waste and recycling?
Q13. What do you need to achieve better recycling outcomes from your business?
Q14. How could you procure more recycled content materials or manufacture recycled content products?
Q15. Do you have any ideas or solutions for improving markets for recycled-content materials or the manufacture of these products? For example, in accessing
finance, product standards and specifications, or in improving market acceptance?
Q16. Do you have any ideas or solutions for how your organisation can support South Australia’s transition to a circular economy, including in product design?
You may wish to consider:
Q12 and Q13. Support for contracting waste and recycling services, accessibility of waste and recycling infrastructure, education materials to support recycling
behaviours within businesses, labelling of recyclable products, transparency in waste management costs, general barriers to adopting better practice recycling
behaviours.
Q14 and Q15. Your organisation’s views on the procurement of recycled content materials and opportunities or general barriers for business and industry.
Q16. Innovative ideas to help the state’s transition to a circular economy are welcome, including your own examples.
Local
government
Q17. What would you like local government to have achieved in waste management, resource recovery and the circular economy?
Q18. What would you like your organisation to have achieved in waste management, recycling and the circular economy?
Q19. What do you see as essential in the provision of waste and recycling services to households?
Q20. What do you see as potential barriers for encouraging further diversion of waste away from landfill?
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Q21. What do you expect from waste management contracts? What are the key criteria used by council in awarding these contracts?
You may wish to consider issues such as bin infrastructure, including food caddies; frequency of collections; hard waste collections; education to support behaviour
change in councils; contracting requirements or specifications for waste management and recycling services; support in data collection and transparency in disclosing
information; support for Infrastructure (including soft infrastructure) and for educating households; consistency across local government areas; encouraging local
processing; end markets for materials collected; costs and environmental benefits and whether these are taken into account when awarding contracts.
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Purpose The success of the next waste strategy relies on
an understanding of what has been achieved
since 2004. This document:
1. Evaluates progress and achievements in
meeting South Australia’s Waste Strategy
2015-2020. This is reflected in Part 1.
2. Identifies proposed directions for South
Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025. This is
reflected in Part 2.
Under the custodianship of Green Industries SA,
the ‘South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025’
will form a framework of policies, strategies and
plans meeting South Australia’s priorities for
economic growth and employing more people,
investment, reducing the cost of living, and
providing better services to the community1.
About Green Industries SA
Green Industries SA is an enabler and driver of
change, supporting the development of the
circular economy through diverse collaborations
which improve productivity, resilience, resource
efficiency and the environment.
It aims to transform how South Australians use
and value resources. Its objectives under the
Green Industries SA Act 2004 are to:
x promote waste management practices that,
as far as possible, eliminate waste or its
consignment to landfill; and
1 Premier of South Australia, Message from the Premier https://premier.sa.gov.au/message-from-the-premier
x promote innovation and business activity in
the waste management, resource recovery
and green industry sectors, recognising these
areas present valuable opportunities to
contribute to the state’s economic growth.
Green Industries SA has overseen implementation
of South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2015-2020,
recognising the important economic contribution
and role of the waste management and resource
recovery sector.
Green Industries SA is funded from the solid
waste component of the waste depot levy,
collected under the Fees and Levies regulations of
the Environment Protection Act 1993. Fifty per
cent of the levy is transferred to the Green
Industry Fund and Green Industries SA uses a
proportion of that fund as provided for in the
Green Industries SA Act 2004. Additional funds are
allocated through the State Government’s budget
process.
“South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025 will form a framework of policies,
strategies and plans meeting South Australia’s priorities for economic growth and
employing more people, investment, reducing cost of living, and providing better
services to the community.”
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PART 1
Evaluation of South Australia’s Waste
Strategy 2015-2020
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South Australia: a waste management journey
Green Industries SA has invested more than $120 million from waste levy funds into the waste management and
resource recovery industry over more than a decade. This has contributed to increased capacity and improved
markets, and assisted the development of new products and skills. It has leveraged considerable investment by
industry and local government.
The industry is a significant part of the South Australian economy. The state diverts more than 80% of the waste it
generates (Rawtec, 2019) and its resource recovery industry has an annual turnover of around $1 billion,
contributing more than $500 million to Gross State Product (directly and indirectly) and employing about 4,800
people (Resources and Waste Advisory Group, 2014).
The value of the resources recovered each year is also significant: in 2017-18 it was estimated to be $356 million
(Rawtec, 2019).
In 2016, Green Industries SA examined the potential benefits of a circular economy for South Australia (Green
Industries SA, 2017b). The review confirmed the state’s achievements in resource recovery and highlighted the
broader opportunities in employment, the economy and environmental benefits associated with moving to a
circular economy. The benefits of a circular economy for South Australia by 2030 are discussed in this document,
including progress to date that has supported the transition (from page 17).
The state’s waste management journey began with legislative and policy actions in the 1970s that paved the way for
ongoing action and reform.
A snapshot of South Australia’s key waste achievements is shown in Figure 1 overleaf.
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1977-2004
2004
2005-2010 2011-2015 2015-2020
� Zero Waste SA Act 2004 enacted � Waste hierarchy legislated as a guiding principle for waste management in South Australia � Closure of Adelaide City Council‘s Wingfield Waste Depot
Waste Strategy 2005-2010 � Increase in recovered materials state-wide from 67.4% in 2005-06 to 72.7% in 2009-10 � Introduced policy position: no new landfills servicing metropolitan Adelaide � Environmental management of landfill facilities guidelines commenced (2007) leading to landfill closure and consolidation to
support higher environmental standards � Local council three-bin systems roll-out, achieving source separation in all 19 metropolitan and some regional councils � Food waste pilots introduced in councils � Investment in recycling and reprocessing infrastructure, and regional and remote waste planning � Economic cost benefit analysis: initiatives during 2005-2010 assessed as delivering a net benefit for SA � Plastic bag ban took effect 2009 under the Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Act 2008 � Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010 (Waste to Resources EPP) introduced, prohibiting disposal of certain
waste to landfill and enabling the EPA to publish standards to declare certain material not to be waste � Electronic waste collection and product stewardship advocacy � Data collection and knowledge management: Zero Waste SA Environmental User System established
Waste Strategy 2011-2015 � Increase in recovered materials state-wide from 72.7% in 2009-10 to 80% in 2014-15 � Resource recovery processing requirements and landfill bans take effect under the Waste to Resources EPP � Renewed focus on avoiding and reducing the amount of overall waste and maximising the useful life of materials by making
them last longer through reuse and recycling � Cost benefit analysis undertaken of waste infrastructure investments: funded projects found to improve industry
competitiveness achieved ratios of 6.7, and for infrastructure investment, between 1.4 and 11.5. � Interventions in:
o community information and awareness through Recycle Right o business resource efficiency assistance o better practice waste management for residential and mixed use developments o University of South Australia Zero Waste SA Centre for Sustainable Design established
Waste Strategy 2015-2020 � Increase in recovered materials from 80% in 2014-15 to more than 83% in 2017-18 � Green Industries SA Act 2004 introduced in 2017 with circular economy as a guiding principle � Potential benefits of a circular economy report prepared in 2017 � Waste infrastructure planning and investment and focus on materials affected by global policy changes for recyclable materials � Development of hazardous waste permanent facilities � Reforming waste management – creating certainty for industry to grow (2015) discussion paper released providing guidance
for EPA waste reform initiatives � Environment Protection (Waste Reform) Amendment Act 2017 commenced � Draft ‘Energy from Waste’ position statement published � Commercialising innovation support � Seventh Regional UNCRD 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific held in Adelaide, 2016 � Delivery of Circular Economy Global Leadership programs. � Direction on single-use plastics management and food waste � Which Bin household recycling education campaign launch 2019 � Disaster waste-recovery planning and activation of GISA’s role as functional lead for Disaster Waste Management under the
State Emergency Management Plan in response to South Australia’s 2019-20 bushfires. � COVID-19 outbreak declared a global pandemic impacting on waste management needs and delivery of essential services.
� Container deposit scheme introduced 1977 – Australia’s first extended producer responsibility legislation � Waste Management Commission Act 1979 � Waste Management Act 1987 � Environment Protection Act 1993 � Solid waste levy introduced � Interim Office of Zero Waste SA established July 2003 � Data collection: litter surveys and recycling activity surveys commenced � State-wide resource recovery rate at 61.5% in 2003-04
Figure 1 – South Australia’s key waste achievements – a snapshot
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Policy settings and economic modelling
The circular economy has become a prominent focus for Green Industries SA over the course of South Australia’s
Waste Strategy 2015-2020. Some of the work undertaken during this period is outlined below.
Policy settings
In 2016, the Green Industries SA Act 2004 took effect. The Act incorporated the concept of circular economy as a
guiding principle, stating that:
‘circular economy is a reference to an economic model that contemplates the production of goods and services—
(i) by a reduced reliance on virgin materials; and
(ii) on the basis of continuously functioning utility and an extended lifecycle; and
(iii) in a manner that eliminates, as far as is reasonably practicable, waste or pollution, or harm to the
environment’.
Economic modelling
In 2017, Green Industries SA – in a joint venture with EconSearch, Colby Industries and the University of Queensland
– commissioned Lifecycles to investigate the potential benefits of a circular economy in South Australia. The report,
Creating Value, the Potential Benefits of a Circular Economy in South Australia (Green Industries SA, 2017b),
measured the possible impacts of a circular economy in the state.
The report confirmed South Australia’s achievements in recycling and resource recovery. It provided examples of
South Australian firms setting the pace, and forecast gains to be achieved in local job creation and reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
The report used recognised macro-economic modelling to depict the interdependencies between 78 sectors,
showing how input from one sector may become an input to another. Assumptions and modelling techniques were
reviewed by an international panel of circular economy experts.
To quantify the greenhouse gas emissions and employment impacts of moving to a more circular economy,
assumptions were made relating to ‘material efficiency’ and ‘renewable and energy efficiency’ aspects. These
assumptions involved how long materials stay in use in South Australia, energy efficiency levels, and the
replacement of fossil fuel by renewable energy. For interpretation, results referenced a ‘Business as Usual’ scenario
that assumed current state growth projections to 2030.
The benefits of a circular economy are shown overleaf in Figure 2.
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By 2030, a circular economy could deliver significant job
creation and greenhouse gas reduction benefits:
9 CREATE AN ADDITIONAL 25,700 FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT JOBS
x 21,000 jobs by actioning material efficiency gains
x 4,700 jobs by actioning efficient and renewable energy gains
9 REDUCE SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) EMISSIONS BY 27%
(Or 7.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (Co2) equivalent)
x 21% GHG reduction by actioning efficient and renewable energy gains
x 6% GHG reduction by actioning material efficiency gains
Source: Creating Value, the Potential Benefits of a Circular Economy in South Australia
Figure 2 – Identified benefits of a circular economy for South Australia
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International leadership Green Industries SA acknowledges recent international moves in the direction of sustainable development and the
circular economy, which have been vital to understanding opportunities for South Australia.
International work that has provided the foundation for South Australia’s direction in these areas includes:
x the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, 2015)
x the Ellen MacArthur Foundation knowledge and resources, for example:
� Towards the Circular Economy. Economic and business rationale for an accelerated transition (2013).
� Circularity Indicators. An Approach to Measuring Circularity (2015)
� The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics (2016)
� A new textiles economy: Redesigning fashion’s future (2017)
x the European Commission’s Circular Economy package (2015)
x Wales and the Circular Economy. Favourable system conditions and economic opportunities (2013)
x China’s progress, including the China Circular Economy Promotion Law (2009) and its national strategy for
achieving a Circular Economy (2015) (summarised at: Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2018)
x Scotland’s circular economy strategy Making Things Last (2016) and A Manufacturing Future for Scotland -
Scotland’s Manufacturing Action Plan (2016)
x A Circular Economy in the Netherlands by 2050 (2016)
x Japan’s Basic Act on Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society (2000) and its 4th Fundamental Plan for
Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society (2018).
x the Flanders’ Materials Programme (2011), which supports a holistic approach to sustainable materials
management within the economy.
Many of these documents outline similar findings to that estimated in South Australia’s ‘Creating Value’ report.
Wales, Scotland and the European Commission, for example, confirm the opportunities the circular economy
provides. Major global businesses such as Google, Unilever, Nike, Cisco and Renault are investing heavily in the
circular economy, with their actions having the capacity to influence supply chains worldwide2. Significantly, the
World Resources Forum Asia Pacific held in Sydney in 2016 estimated the value of a circular economy to Australia at
A$26 billion a year by 2025 (Florin, et al, 2015).
2 Refer: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/our-story/partners
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Progress in work during 2015-2020 to support a transition to a circular economy
Building a circular economy will require long-term structural adjustments in areas including infrastructure investment, planning, and policy interventions and advocacy. It is recognised
that South Australia is already taking steps to lead the nation with initiatives such as container deposit legislation, bans on single-use plastic bags, high-performance kerbside waste
collection and recycling systems, wastewater reuse and recycling, industrial resource efficiency, the collection of hazardous waste, wind and solar energy development, and stormwater
harvesting. Below are other steps South Australia is taking to lead circular economy initiatives.
Area Actions
Waste
infrastructure
planning
Green Industries SA’s 2018 South Australia’s Waste and Resource Recovery Infrastructure Plan provides an understanding of the integrated waste and
resource recovery infrastructure system (incorporating infrastructure, skills and capabilities) needed to support a circular economy. The plan models
projections for waste generation, recovery and landfilling, potential infrastructure needs and associated investment over the next 30 years, with an
immediate focus on the next 10 years. It recognises that waste and resource recovery infrastructure needs will be affected by interrelated factors
including waste generation volumes, levels of resource recovery, government policy, technological advances, business expectations and community
expectations and lifestyles.
Infrastructure
investment
Throughout the term of the 2015-2020 Waste Strategy, continued investment in resource recovery infrastructure is enabling South Australia to deal with
its waste locally and, more critically, respond to the impacts of global policy changes affecting commodity prices for recycled materials. Benefits resulting
from infrastructure investment include avoided landfill costs; reduced use of virgin materials, energy and water; decreases in greenhouse gas emissions;
and economic development. Support has included an infrastructure investment loan scheme, recycling infrastructure grants, transport subsidies to
regional South Australian councils, circular economy market development grants, and a new recycling education program.
Shared spaces
infrastructure
Green Industries SA has funded the development of shared fabrication spaces, which are open access workshops that address activities in the upper
sections of the internationally accepted waste management hierarchy: avoid, reduce, and reuse. Funding has been provided to support the Mount
Pleasant Men’s Shed project ($29,000) and the SA Makers ($300,000) to establish a shared fabrication space in the Adelaide CBD. The Adelaide Maker
Space offers a pre-incubation space where community innovators can bring together ideas, learn, explore, educate, communicate and fabricate, while
fostering a culture of social and environmental entrepreneurship. Open access workshops involve 3D printing, laser cutting and digital fabrication
equipment.
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Area Actions
These spaces promote a shift in the materials life-cycle towards a circular economy through innovative approaches that deliver economic, environmental
and social benefits.
Commercialising
innovation
Investment in the rapid commercialisation of innovative ideas in the waste and resource recovery sector is essential to keep South Australia at the
forefront of green innovation. In 2017, following a competitive tender process, Green Industries SA provided a loan of $750,000 over five years to Innovyz
Institute Pty Ltd (Innovyz), a South Australian company that commercialises research and related innovations. Together with Green Industries SA, it had
identified the waste and recycling sectors and related areas as key areas for new technologies and systems with global relevance that could generate
economic growth in South Australia.
Through its unique fast-tracked business development program, Innovyz has helped eight technologies reach the start-up phase. The innovations and
technologies include wastewater filtration systems, software relating to the recyclability of packaging, wetlands treatment, infrared monitoring
technology for irrigation, recycling of solid waste materials that were previously consigned to landfill disposal, PVC and other plastics recycling,
improvements to recycled concrete, and agricultural wastes management.
Following the success of the first commercialisation of innovation program, Innovyz will complete the delivery of a second program focusing on the recycling,
resource recovery and the circular economy during 2019-20.
More information is available on Innovyz’s website: www.innovyz.com/waste-recycling-companies.
Global
Leadership
Program on the
Circular Economy
South Australia has the potential to be the pre-eminent training destination for overseas governments looking to manage their waste.
Business opportunities are presenting as communities seek solutions to problems relating to traditional activities such as construction and demolition, as
well as growth in new waste streams such as electronic waste, plastics, packaging and tyres. Many businesses in areas such as landfill and landfill gas
extraction, and energy production to composting and consulting services, are yet to realise their export potential. Many are small family businesses.
Green Industries SA’s pilot Global Leadership Program was launched at the Eighth Regional 3R Forum in Asia and Pacific, Indore, India in April 2018. It
targets and facilitates business-to-business introductions with representatives and experts from leading companies and organisations from the Asia Pacific
region. Participants hear presentations from experts and visited South Australian businesses and enable connections between participants and South
Australian businesses and organisations that host site visits.
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Area Actions
Circular economy
case studies
Green Industries SA has developed sector-specific case studies to demonstrate the value of the circular economy. One showcases the work of Holla-Fresh,
a herb producer based in Tantanoola, through a two-part video series3. Holla-Fresh worked with Green Industries SA to source a replacement of an ageing
boiler used to heat its glasshouses. A renewable energy pyrolysis unit was installed, resulting in benefits including the use of low-carbon/carbon sink
technology, low cost and ‘clean’ onsite renewable energy, developing the regional bioeconomy through secondary output of biochar (which is used by
local composting business Bio Gro), and the potential for increased herb growth through carbon dioxide enrichment from the pyrolysis unit. The videos
showcase a practical example of the circular economy and educate businesses and industry on the economic benefits of a circular economy.
Market
development
The Green Industries SA Market Development Grants Program is supporting local businesses and stimulating an increase in the quality and market
demand for recyclable materials and recycled content products. The South Australian Sustainable Procurement Working Group is maximising
collaboration between all levels of government, the business community and the waste sector to develop a framework to drive end-market development
for post-consumer recyclables.
Disaster
waste-recovery
planning
Green Industries SA has received Natural Disaster Resilience Program funding for its Australian-first disaster waste management planning. Through a
public tender process, a consortium of local and international experts led by a South Australian company, Rawtec, was commissioned in 2017 to develop a
Disaster Waste Management Capability Plan and Guidelines. The plan clarifies roles and responsibilities for disaster waste management in the state and
provides a framework for the State Government to provide advisory and operational support to affected communities.
In July 2018, the State Emergency Management Committee endorsed the plan and guideline, which now form part of the State’s Emergency Management
Plan. Green Industries SA is the Functional Lead for Disaster Waste Management for the state. In January 2020, the government activated Green
Industries SA’s role as functional lead and GISA commenced implementing the plan in the response to the 2019-20 bushfires experienced on Kangaroo
Island, and in the Adelaide Hills, the Yorke Peninsula and Keilira. The learnings and experience gained through implementing the plan will inform further
updates required for the Disaster Waste Management Capability Plan and Guidelines.
3 Refer: https://www.youtube.com/user/ZeroWasteSA
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Area Actions
Circular Economy
Business Support
Program
The Circular Economy Business Support Program helps businesses understand how they might support South Australia’s transition towards a circular
economy, building capacity, boosting productivity, and developing business cases for sustainable change. Target organisations include South Australian
businesses, industry associations, business networks and regional business groups. In-house support is provided for commercially-focused projects that
will to lead to environmental improvements.
Financial assistance is available to individual businesses and industry groups requiring specialist expertise in resource efficiency (materials, energy and
water), waste management and lean production. The services and grants offered through the program have been developed following consultation with
other government agencies, key industry sector groups and previous clients. Key elements include:
x support to understand the potential for cost savings, productivity improvements and improved environmental performance through resource
efficiency (materials, energy, water), waste management, and lean production
x grants for individual businesses to engage third-party technical advisers for resource efficiency and productivity assessments to identify and
prioritise opportunities for improvements
x additional financial support for selected implementation activities.
Projects during 2015-2020 include:
x partnering with Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) to develop the Better Practice Guide for Waste and Recycling in Aged Care Facilities,
and supporting its implementation through workshops and on-site support to a range of aged care providers
x partnering with Caravan Parks Association of SA to deliver a sustainability program that will provide waste, energy and water assessments for up to
16 caravan parks across South Australia
x partnering with the South Australian Wine Industry Association (SAWIA) to deliver the SA Wine Industry Lean Production Program that identified
more than $11 million in potential savings across 18 wineries, and delivered workshops and tools to support the uptake of lean production practices
in the wineries
x supporting research on energy tariff structures and energy demand management strategies for the South Australian wine industry, combined with
extension seminars and site investigations to actively investigate energy demand management strategies at four wineries
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Area Actions
x partnering with Business SA to run an Untapped Power Masterclass Program that attracted four large business participants, with attendees
developing a greater understanding of their opportunities to improve energy management
x supporting Adelaide Airport to compare costs and savings for food service tenants to convert to compostable food service ware, and to develop
waste management plans for tenants
x support to identify, prioritise and fast track improvements in waste management and resource efficiency for businesses in the manufacturing, food
and beverage production, retail, and education sectors
x developing a case study for Premier Insulation, showcasing an innovative approach to diverting construction waste away from landfill
x developing and publishing case studies that showcase leaders in lean production, waste management and resource efficiency.
Single-use
plastics
management
In June 2019, the South Australian Government announced its approach to addressing the impacts of single-use plastic products. This followed
feedback on the ‘Turning the tide on single-use plastic products’ discussion paper released in early 2019. The paper received an overwhelming
response from the South Australian community, with 3,564 public responses and 68 written submissions in the six-week consultation period.
Respondents were strongly supportive of increased measures to address single-use plastic products and indicated widespread support for government
intervention. A report summarising feedback is available on the YourSay and Green Industries SA websites.
The Single-use and Other Plastic Products (Waste Avoidance) Bill 2020 was introduced to Parliament on 30 April 2020 to implement the government’s
commitment to address the impacts of single-use plastic products. It prohibits the sale, supply and distribution of certain single-use plastic products and
establishes a framework for adding other products in the future. In addition to the advice and opinions of a key stakeholder taskforce established to guide
development of the legislation it was also released for public consultation in late 2019 to early 2020. The views of the taskforce and issues raised in public
submission assisted in finalising its introduction to Parliament.
Which Bin?
community
campaign
The Which Bin campaign was launched in May 2019 to provide cohesive, best-practice advice to South Australian households, including recycling tips
and behaviours. It formed part of the government’s China National Sword support package, with the aims of reducing contamination in kerbside
recycling bins and improving the quality of recyclable materials. The campaign features a ‘modern family’ that deals with everyday recycling dilemmas.
Green Industries SA established a working group of State Government, industry, local government and other stakeholders to inform the campaign’s
messages. The campaign uses television, print, outdoor and digital advertising to increase awareness of ‘which bin’ materials should be placed in. A
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Area Actions
Which Bin website (whichbin.sa.gov.au) and a telephone hotline provide more information. To complement the campaign, Green Industries SA is
developing a suite of resources for local government to adopt the Which Bin brand, including branded ‘waste collection’ calendars, bin stickers,
signage, posters and customisable social media assets.
Hazardous waste
permanent
facilities
In 2018-19, Green Industries SA designed, planned and commenced construction of four facilities across metropolitan Adelaide for the disposal of
household chemicals and paint. Hosted by local government organisations, the facilities are expanding the availability of free, responsible and safe
collection and disposal service for unwanted chemicals.
Four sites permanent sites have been established at Edinburgh North, Campbelltown, North Plympton and the Heathfield resource recovery facility
hosted by the Adelaide Hills Council.
EPA waste
reforms
Through its compliance efforts and reform processes, the EPA is working to establish a robust regulatory environment to support the sustainable
operation of the waste and resource recovery industry by:
x minimising the risk of environmental harm occurring
x supporting the safe available use of secondary materials in accordance with the waste management hierarchy and circular economy principles
x providing certainty and fairness for lawful operators, and promoting investment, innovation and sector growth
x halting illegal operators
x ensuring accurate payment of the waste levy.
The EPA is pursuing an extensive waste reform program to achieve sound regulation that supports fair and equitable competition, stability, growth and
innovation in the sector. It has undertaken extensive consultation with key stakeholders, in particular through:
x a Waste Summit in 2015 convened to provide an update on the state of the waste and resource recovery industry and allow discussion on key
issues
x the release of a Reforming waste management – creating certainty for an industry to grow discussion paper in 2015, seeking views on a broad mix
of potential reform mechanisms
x stakeholder workshops conducted on a range of reforms at the 2016 Waste SA Conference
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Area Actions
x ongoing engagement with industry stakeholders through regular meetings of the EPA Chief Executive’s Waste Reform High-Level Advisory Group
and the complementary Waste Industry Reference Group.
Environment Protection (Waste Reform) Amendment Act 2017
The Environment Protection (Waste Reform) Amendment Act 2017 (Waste Reform Act) commenced in November 2017, amending the Environment
Protection Act 1993 to better support a strong resource recovery sector. The changes modernised the Act to incorporate into the Act’s Objects the
waste management hierarchy, circulation of materials, and a strong market for recovered resources.
Amendments also strengthened the EPA’s ability to prosecute illegal dumping cases, regulate excessive stockpiling of materials, and require financial
assurances where there is potential for abandonment of materials. The EPA is continuing to develop detailed policies to support these powers.
Development of policy guidance for Energy from Waste facilities
The South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2015-2020 identified that the EPA should enhance the clarity of the regulatory framework relating to energy from
waste and develop relevant assessment criteria to better support industry investment decisions.
Following stakeholder consultation, the EPA developed a draft position statement for thermal energy from waste activities, setting out the policy
framework and environmental assessment criteria and describing how these activities are to be sited, designed, and operated to ensure that they meet
all requirements. The position statement also seeks to ensure that waste reduction and recycling are prioritised above energy from waste, consistent
with the waste hierarchy and recommendations of the Commonwealth Senate inquiry into waste and recycling.
Submissions received on the draft position statement will inform a final position for release in 2019-20.
Mass balance reporting
Mass balance reporting will require certain licensed waste facilities – including transfer stations, resource recovery facilities and waste disposal depots
– to report on the monthly tonnages of materials that a site receives, stockpiles, uses onsite or transfers from the site for sale or disposal.
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Area Actions
Feedback from stakeholder consultation of a proposed system, and information from a voluntary pilot program, are being used to finalise system
design and necessary legislative amendments. Mass balance reporting will provide vital information about material movements in South Australia to
aid in regulation and strategic decision making under ‘South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025’.
Introduction of an amended manner of collection of levy at landfills
Existing waste levy regulations do not explicitly explain resource recovery processing and the onsite use of such materials at landfill sites, or how waste
levy should be collected in such circumstances. The lack of clarity provides opportunities for operators to avoid payment of the levy and possibly
achieve an unfair competitive advantage. The EPA is seeking to make legislative amendments to ensure the levy continues to drive positive resource
recovery outcomes and support a level playing field for industry. The EPA will consult in relation to this matter during 2019-20.
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Progress in meeting 2015-2020 goals and targets
The goals and targets of South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2015-2020 were set at realistic but challenging levels. South Australia’s progress in meeting them is set out in Table 1
below (overall landfill diversion target and per capita waste generation). The source sector diversion targets (Table 2) are comparable to those in other Australian jurisdictions, but
are not state-wide. Overall volumes collected through kerbside diversion are provided in Table 3 and long term trends in this recovery rate in Table 4.
Table 1 – South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2015-2020 landfill diversion targets
TARGETS STATUS
35% reduction in landfill disposal from 2002-03 level by
2020; milestone of 30% by 2017-18
The state has achieved 29% reduction in landfill from 2002-03 levels (Rawtec, 2019).
Per capita waste generation target: 5% reduction in
waste generation per capita by 2020 (from 2015
baseline)
Per capita total waste generated from all three waste sectors (Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), Commercial and Industrial
(C&I) and Construction and Demolition (C&D)) in South Australia rose by 8.7% from 2014-15 from 2015 to 2017-18. It has
risen by 62% since 2003-04.
Table 2 – South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2015–2020 landfill diversion targets by source sector
TARGETS STATUS
Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill diversion
Year Metropolitan
(% diversion)
Non-metropolitan
2009
(baseline)
55 Not applicable The MSW metropolitan diversion rate of 58.5% falls short of the 2020 target of 70% by more than 10%.
Kerbside bin recovery 2012 60 Maximise diversion to the extent
practically and economically
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2015 70 achievable. Local government recovery data relating to the diversion from bins collected at the kerbside shows an overall average
kerbside recovery rate in South Australia in 2016-17 of approximately 49.9% (Green Industries SA, 2019a). However, some
higher-performing councils are achieving up to 58% (Green Industries SA, 2019) This recovery excludes MSW non-kerbside
collected material, for example, container deposit legislation returns, material taken from householders to transfer
stations, hard waste collections, electronic waste, street sweepings and textiles. Food waste is estimated at more than
150,000 tonnes a year.
2020 70*
Commercial and industrial (C&I) landfill diversion
Year Metropolitan
(% diversion) Non-metropolitan
2009
(baseline)
60 Not applicable The C&I sector achieved an 82.6% diversion in 2017-18, above the 2015 and 2020 targets. This sector experienced a
decrease from a diversion rate of 85.2% cent in 2016-17. 2012 65 Maximise diversion to the extent
practically and economically
achievable. 2015 75
2020 80
Construction and demolition (C&D) landfill diversion targets
Year Metropolitan
(% diversion) Non-metropolitan
2009
(baseline)
80 Not applicable The diversion rate in this sector in recent years fluctuated around the Waste Strategy 2015-2020 target of 90% by 2020. In
2017-18 the target was exceeded at 91.9% overall. This is an increase from the C&D 2016-17 diversion of 90%. The 2020
target of 90% for this sector has been achieved.
2012 85 Maximise diversion to the extent
practically and economically
achievable. 2015 90
2020 90
*MSW target comprises 60% diversion from household bin systems contributing to an overall MSW target of 70%.
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Resource recovery
Figure 3 – Trend in resource recovery and landfill disposal in South Australia since 2003-044
Estimated environmental benefits from recycling
Figure 4 – Environmental benefits from recycling
4 Reporting of both resource recovery and landfill disposal is divided into Standard Reporting Materials and Separately Reported Materials & Clean Fill categories. Source: Rawtec, 2018, South Australia’s Recycling Activity Survey 2016-17 Financial Year Report, p. 12
Greenhouse gas (GHG) savings of 1.37 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) considered
approximately equivalent to:
x about 2 million trees absorbing the same amount of CO2
x the GHG emissions from 316,000 cars in a year
x 20% of South Australia’s total community sector GHG emissions in 2011.
Cumulative energy demand saved, estimated at 15,800 teraJoules, is considered approximately
equivalent to:
x energy use by 291,500 average households in one year
x the energy supplied by 2.6 million barrels of oil
x 5% of South Australia’s total energy consumption reported for 2017-18.
Water savings, estimated at 8,300 megalitres, is considered to be approximately equivalent to:
x the water use of about 44,000 average Adelaide households in one year
x the water contained in about 3,300 Olympic-sized swimming pools
x 4% of metropolitan Adelaide’s total water consumption in 2017-18.
(Rawtec, 2019)
2005-10 Waste Strategy 2011-2015 Waste
Strategy
2015-2020 Waste Strategy
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What did each waste sector contribute to resource recovery in South Australia?
Figure 5 below highlights that for each sector, from 2007-08 to 2016-17, the resource recovery rate has
comprised construction and demolition (C&D) 62.3%, commercial and industrial (C&I) 28.5%, and municipal
solid waste (MSW) 9.2%.
Figure 5 – Contribution to resource recovery in SA by source sector for 2017-18 and trend since 2007-08
How does South Australia compare to other Australian jurisdictions?
Compared to other Australian states and territories5, in 2017-18 (Rawtec, 2019), South Australia had the
highest:
x reported diversion at 83.6%
x per capita resource recovery at 2,585 kilograms a year6
x per capita resource recovery for standard reporting material only, at 1,810 kilograms a year.
South Australia reported the lowest per capita landfill disposal rate at 507 kg a year but also the highest
waste generation7 in Australia at 3,092 kg a year.
5 Comparisons with other states should be interpreted with caution: the data is from different years and there are different methods for reporting the results in different states. 6 Not all recycling data could be obtained for 2017-18. Furthermore, not all Australian states and territories collect and report this data in conformance with the reporting guidelines provided by Department of Environment and Energy, 2015. Estimated waste generation, recycling and landfill disposal were based on most current and best available data for each state/territory. 7 Waste generation is the total volume of all waste recovered through resource recovery and also disposed to landfill in the state.
2005-10 Waste Strategy 2011-2015 Waste Strategy
2015-2020 Waste Strategy
Page | 32
Figure 5 – Comparison of reported per capita (kg/person/year) resource recovery and landfill disposal and recovery (%) by state or territory.8
8 These figures are based on the latest currently available data. The per capita data for resource recovery is differentiated according to Standard Reporting Materials and Separately Reported Materials and Clean Fill scopes in line with the national reporting guidelines provided by the Department Environment and Energy (2015). Note: Reported recovery for ACT does not show a breakdown between Standard Reporting Materials and Separately Reported Materials & Clean Fill, and thus, these quantities are aggregated in the recycling category of reported per capita data.
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Municipal solid waste and kerbside performance
South Australian councils provide kerbside waste and recycling services to residential households and some
small businesses and organisations. Green Industries SA understands that councils providing fortnightly
collection of green organics and food organics to all residents (as well as fortnightly recycling and weekly
residual waste collection) can achieve a 60% diversion rate. However, this does not include MSW quantities
arising from hard waste services, street sweepings, waste collected at drop-off facilities, and council-
operated commercial services where opportunities for diversion of materials also arise. Further increases in
the recovery of glass, paper and plastics are possible.
This section provides a snapshot on the performance of household kerbside bin systems, including:
x overall kerbside recovery performance
x analysis of recovery rates for three-bin vs two-bin systems
x metropolitan Adelaide kerbside recovery long-term trends
x food waste diversion.
Overall kerbside recovery
In 2016-17, residents in the metropolitan area generated 530,300 tonnes of kerbside materials. Overall,
metropolitan Adelaide achieved a three-bin recovery rate of 49.9%.
Table 3 – Overall volumes collected at kerbside in South Australia, 2016-17
Collection 2015-16 2016-17 % change
Residual waste 263,700 265,500 1
Organic 134,900 155,700 13%
Recyclables 110,500 109,100 -1
Total metropolitan materials 509,000 530,300 4
Recovery rate 48.2% 49.9% 1.7
Three-bin and two-bin systems
Since 2005, successive South Australian waste strategies have stated that a three-bin system (comprising
recycling, organics and landfill bins) is a higher-performing system for diverting material than a two-bin
system (typically comprising a recycling bin and a landfill bin). The three-bin system has recently been
enhanced with food-waste diversion. Green Industries SA has assessed the assumption that the three-bin
system provides further opportunities to recover material by examining the recovery rate as a performance
indicator for the various existing bin systems in place in metropolitan Adelaide.
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Table 4 – Monthly kerbside-bin recovery rates by metropolitan Adelaide sub-regions, 2017-18
Metropolitan Adelaide
sub-region Population Households
Total materials
(tonnes)
Recovery rate %*
Three-bins Two-bins
Central eastern 265,085 114,925 106,996 54 32
Northern 358,835 141,861 141,603 46 27
Southern 328,783 138,114 136,876 49 28
Western 337,347 149,596 144,859 53 30
1,290,050 544,496 530,300 50 29
* Figures have been rounded.
Metropolitan Adelaide kerbside recovery long-term trends
The metropolitan Adelaide long term trends in kerbside recovery are presented in Table 5 below.
Over the 14 years to 2016-17, major changes include:
x a 17% (92,600 tonne) increase in total metropolitan kerbside waste
x a 13% (33,800 tonne) fall in the quantity of landfill
x a 57% (89,500 tonne) increase in organics diversion
x a 34% (36,900 tonne) increase in recyclables recovered.
The metropolitan recovery rate increased from 32% in 2003-04 to 50% in 2016-17, likely attributable to the
roll-out of three bin systems in councils from 2004. The kerbside recycling rate has stabilised in the last three
years.
Table 5 – Metropolitan Adelaide’s kerbside recovery rates
Financial Year Metropolitan %* Waste Strategy period
Key activities contributing to kerbside recovery
2003-04 32 Varied bin systems in place across councils state-wide.
2004-05 36
2005-2010 Waste Strategy
Kerbside bin three-bin systems roll-out in councils from 2004. Food waste pilots introduced in councils from 2009
2005-06 45 2006-07 45 2007-08 47 2008-09 48 2009-10 48
2010-11 49
2011-2015 Waste Strategy
Continued roll-out of food waste: council uptake of Green Industries SA funding covering approximately 140,000 households in metropolitan council areas.
2011-12 48 2012-13 49 2013-14 49
2014-15 48 2015-2020 Waste
Strategy
Minimal uptake of incentives for food-waste roll-out by councils: approximately 24,000 additional households in metropolitan council areas.
2015-16 48 2016-17 50
* Figures have been rounded
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Food waste diversion from households
Metropolitan Adelaide
Food waste is estimated at 3.3 kilograms per household, and comprises 19% of total household waste and
40% of residual waste after recyclables are removed, across metropolitan Adelaide (Rawtec, 2019). It is one
of the largest components of collected household waste, impacting on associated landfill costs to councils.
Rollout of kerbside organics bins to all households in metropolitan Adelaide council areas is expected to be
realised by 2020. Implementation in regional areas of food waste diversion systems is largely dependent on
the processing infrastructure available in the region.
Support for councils to fund the roll-out of food caddies within council areas continues to be provided
through Green Industries SA. This increases regional processing capacity and the acceptance of food waste
streams from regional kerbside organics bins. In addition to diverting food waste, a kerbside green organics
bin, combined with an internal collection point for organic material in the form of a kitchen caddy, diverts
other non-food organic materials such as paper towel, tissues, serviettes and cut flowers from landfill.
Green Industries SA has explored the key factors contributing to the diversion of household food waste from
landfill, including through a pilot program in 2009-10. The pilot program – the largest of its type in Australia
at the time – involved more than 17,000 households in 10 South Australian councils (metropolitan and
regional) and the diversion of food organics from the kerbside residual waste bin to the green organics bin,
which was then collected for commercial composting. The pilot was evaluated through market research,
quantitative kerbside audits and odour monitoring. It identified the most important factors contributing to
the diversion of household food waste from landfill. The results demonstrated that the program increased
diversion rates and had a high level of community acceptance.
The pilot informed the development of a State Government incentive scheme, which in 2019-20 operates as
the Kerbside Performance Plus Food Waste Incentives program, to encourage local government’s adoption of
food waste systems.
Green Industries SA is aware that 19 metropolitan councils offer food waste systems in the form of organics
bins combined with food waste caddies.
x In five councils they are area wide.
x Nine councils offer ‘opt-in’ food waste systems to interested households only, with some systems
offered at cost to households.
x Four councils will offer ‘opt-in’ food waste systems from 2020 to interested households only, with some
systems offered at cost to households.
x The Adelaide Hills Council offers food waste systems in parts of the council area where logistically
practicable.
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Figure 6 demonstrates that nearly all metropolitan Adelaide councils allow food waste to be placed in
residents’ kerbside organics bins. However, in spite of all metropolitan councils making progress in food
waste diversion, data provided to Green Industries SA from the five councils that have implemented area-
wide roll out of kitchen caddies indicates that only one in five households in metropolitan Adelaide has a
kitchen caddy, for an estimated total of 101,000 households. (This estimate includes only those waste
collection systems requested through councils).
Green Industries SA understands that councils with opt-in organics collections have recovery rates of up to 10
percentage points lower than those areas where area-wide roll out of kitchen caddies have been
implemented.
A full rollout of food waste diversion systems across metropolitan Adelaide is expected to lift the recovery
rate significantly and reduce the amount of materials presented in the kerbside general waste bin.
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Green Industries SA is aware that 19 metropolitan councils offer food waste systems in the form of organics
bins combined with food waste caddies.
x In five councils they are area wide.
x Nine councils offer ‘opt-in’ food waste systems to interested households only, with some systems
offered at cost to households.
x Four councils will offer ‘opt-in’ food waste systems from 2020 to interested households only, with some
systems offered at cost to households.
x The Adelaide Hills Council offers food waste systems in parts of the council area where logistically
practicable.
Figure 6 demonstrates that nearly all metropolitan Adelaide councils allow food waste to be placed in
residents’ kerbside organics bins. However, in spite of all metropolitan councils making progress in food
waste diversion, data provided to Green Industries SA from the five councils that have implemented area-
wide roll out of kitchen caddies indicates that only one in five households in metropolitan Adelaide has a
kitchen caddy, for an estimated total of 101,000 households. (This estimate includes only those waste
collection systems requested through councils.)
Green Industries SA understands that councils with opt-in organics collections have recovery rates of up to 10
percentage points lower than those areas where area-wide roll out of kitchen caddies have been
implemented.
A full rollout of food waste diversion systems across metropolitan Adelaide is expected to lift the recovery
rate significantly and reduce the amount of materials
presented in the kerbside general waste bin.
Figure 6. Metropolitan Adelaide Council food collection systems, 2018-19
Legend:
Food Caddy system Summary
Area-wide Area wide roll-out of food waste caddies
Limited Limited food waste systems – provided where logistically practicable.
Opt-in Provision of opt-in food waste caddies
Opt-in from 2020 Green organics and/or food caddies provided at cost to households
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Regional South Australia
While regional areas continue to face challenges in terms of location, distance and related transport costs,
population base, community expectations, and the quantities that can be collected for recycling, it is
understood that many regional councils have rolled-out three-bin household systems and some have
adopted food waste collection systems.
Among the 49 regional councils:
x two offer area-wide food waste systems within townships
x 10 offer opt-in food waste systems within townships
x 37 do not offer any form of food waste collection.
*Not all regional councils are displayed due to lack of available data in relation to waste management services in those areas. Figure 7 – Regional South Australia Council Food Waste Collection Systems, 2018-19
Legend Food Caddy system Summary
Area-wide Area wide roll-out of food waste caddies in township areas
Opt-in Provision of opt-in food waste caddies in township areas
None No food waste diversion systems in place.
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PART 2
Draft ‘South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025: A vision for a circular economy’
Page | 40
Contents
What will guide the Waste Strategy
Framework and principles
The global landscape
Page 41
Waste Strategy Objective Page 45
Targets for 2020-2025
Proposed targets for 2020-2025
Broad quantitative actions to achieve proposed targets
Page 46
Partnerships Page 50
Evaluation and reporting Page 51
Priorities for action Page 52
References Page 90
Page | 41
What will guide the 2020-2025 Waste Strategy? Framework and principles
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Montreal Protocol
European Commission Circular Economy Framework
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Basel Convention
Australian Government- National Waste Policy and Action Plan- Extended producer responsibility schemes- Product Stewardship Act 2011- National Food Waste Strategy
Green Industries SA Act 2004Guiding principles:- Waste management hierarchy (refer figure 1)- The circular economy (refer figure 2)- Ecologically sustainable development (refer figure 3)- Best practice methods and standards- Policy development through open dialogue and consultation- No new landfills servicing metropolitan Adelaide- Source separation of waste
Environment Protection Act 1993Objects of the Act:- Ecologically sustainable development- The management of waste- Promoting resource recovery
- Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010Key features:- Sustainable waste management objective- Resource recovery processing requirements for most metropolitan Adelaide waste- Landfill bans- Illegal dumping offence
- Beverage Container Act 1975- Plastic Shopping Bags (Waste Avoidance) Act 2008
International framework
National framework
State framework
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A framework for waste management
Key guiding principles for waste management in South Australia
Figure 1. The waste management hierarchy
The waste management hierarchy is recognised internationally as an aspirational framework for sustainability. It implies a closed system where waste is ultimately dealt with, but it does not indicate how to manage ‘leakage’ from the system or the fugitive waste that may escape as litter or marine debris.
The possibility of leakage is recognised by policies and actions such as South Australia’s direction on single-use plastics. The policy highlights that the hierarchy recognises litter and marine debris as being the least preferable options in waste management – that is, waste disposed of on land or into aquatic environments, whether deliberately or otherwise.
Avoid
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
Recover(including energy)
Treat
Dispose
Most preferable
Least preferable
Litter? Marine litter?
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RSA Great Recovery: www.greatrecovery.org.uk/resources/four-design-models-for-circular-economy Figure 2 – Circular economy systems
Figure 3 – Definition of ecologically sustainable development, adapted from South Australia’s Environment Protection Act 1993
The circular economy
Ecologically sustainable development
Ecologically sustainable development means to: x use, develop and protect the environment in ways that allow people and
communities to provide for their health, safety, and economic, social and physical wellbeing
x sustain the potential of natural and physical resources to meet the needs of future generations
x safeguard the life-supporting capacity of air, water, land and ecosystem x avoid, remedy or mitigate adverse effects of activities on the environment x give proper weight to long-term and short-term economic, environmental, social and
equity considerations in deciding matters that relate to environmental protection, restoration and enhancement.
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The global landscape
Exploring opportunities and addressing the challenges in managing resources and waste more sustainably require a holistic understanding of relevant issues of global concern. The draft Waste Strategy reflects the need to conserve resources and reduce pollution and carbon emissions while reducing poverty and maintaining human wellbeing within a supportive economy. Many nations are united in their efforts. Key opportunities and challenges facing waste management and the circular economy are summarised here.
Population growth
By 2050, world population will have reached 9.8 billion people. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2017
Raw material demand
The demand for global material resources is estimated at 90 billion tonnes in 2017 and expected to more than double from 2015 to 2050. IRP, 2017
Growing waste
Global waste is expected to grow by 70% on current levels by 2050: from 2.01 billion tonnes in 2016 to 3.4 billion tonnes by 2050. Kaza, S. et al. 2018
Climate change
Greenhouse gases are at their highest point in 800,000 years, with levels increasing by nearly 80% since 1970. Meinshausen, M. et al., 2017
Ageing population
The global population aged 60 or over is growing faster than all younger age groups. United Nations, 2017
Significant disruptive events
International market pressures, natural disasters and global disruptions such as COVID-19 can cause significant environmental, social and economic impacts.
Growing unemployment and under-employment
The number of unemployed persons globally in 2017 is estimated to be just over 201 million – with an additional increase of 2.7 million expected in 2018. International Labour Office, 2017
Food security
With world population rising, the world is facing about a 70% increase in food demands by 2050. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 2017
Global infrastructure
Total global investment in required infrastructure is forecast to be $94 trillion by 2040. A $15 trillion gap has also been forecast in the investment required to meet the world’s needs. Global Infrastructure Hub, 2018
Emerging technologies
Emerging technologies evaluated by experts as having the ability to disrupt and alter the way we operate our daily lives include bioplastics for a circular economy, social robots, smart fertilisers to reduce environmental contamination, advanced food tracking and packaging, collaborative telepresence, and utility-scale storage of renewable energy. World Economic Forum, 2019
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Waste Strategy Objective The objective of South Australia’s waste strategy is to outline actions that can contribute to the
development of a circular economy – that is, an economy that realises the best or full value from
products and materials produced, consumed and recovered in South Australia through:
x a clearly articulated policy and legislative framework that gives a solid platform for
investment decisions and a stable and efficient market
x supporting innovation and commercialisation
x education, advocacy and awareness to support behaviour change in the way waste and
resources are managed
x applying the waste management hierarchy consistently with the principles of ecologically
sustainable development.
These objectives highlight that if we act in response to the global challenges facing waste
management, we can:
x increase market confidence for investments in the circular economy, resource recovery and
waste management
x encourage local innovation and investment, boost certainty and build resilient businesses
x increase South Australia’s use of secondary materials and reduce the demand on raw
material
x improve material efficiency and utility
x reduce greenhouse gases
x encourage job creation
x foster an environment where the South Australian community, businesses and institutions
can thrive while reducing their impact on the environment
x maintain South Australia’s leading position in waste management and resource recovery.
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Targets for 2020-2025 A target of zero avoidable waste to landfill by 2030 is proposed to guide action during
and beyond the lifespan of the 2020-2025 Strategy.
This target aims to stimulate action towards a circular economy. In meeting this target,
principles and requirements of the Green Industries SA Act 2004, the Environment
Protection Act 1993 and its subordinate legislation, including the Environment
Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010 should be upheld, including:
• The waste management hierarchy, ensuring that materials are separated as close
as possible to their point of generation and safely used for their highest order
purpose. Some materials, including asbestos, certain toxic and quarantine waste,
once generated, should be removed from circulation as soon as possible, noting
that some of these wastes may be suitable for processes that are higher than
landfill on the waste management hierarchy, such as energy from waste.
• Ensuring that principles of ecologically sustainable development and avoiding
environmental harm are upheld as new mechanisms for design, use and recovery
are promoted and pursued.
• Ensuring that the use of waste-derived materials is beneficial and genuine, not
posing a risk of environmental harm or undermining resource recovery markets.
Targets for South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025 are proposed, as are
quantitative targets for municipal solid waste (MSW), commercial and industrial (C&I),
construction and demolition (C&D) waste streams, and per waste capita reduction.
Broader quantitative key actions essential to achieving these targets are also defined.
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South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020-2025 proposed targets
Target: Zero waste to landfill by 20309
Targets METROPOLITAN NON-METROPOLITAN
Targets by sector Overall 2025 target Municipal solid waste (MSW)
75% diversion Maximise diversion to the extent practically and economically achievable
Year Household bin systems 10 All MSW waste11 2020 55% *minimum diversion target* 60% 2022 60% 65% 2025 70% 75%
Commercial and industrial (C&I)
90% diversion Maximise diversion to the extent practically and economically achievable
Year Diversion 2020 80% 2022 85% 2025 90%
Construction and demolition (C&D)
95% diversion Maximise diversion to the extent practically and economically achievable
Year Diversion 2020 90% 2022 90% 2025 95%
Per capita waste generation 5% reduction From 2020 baseline
9 Zero avoidable waste to landfill equates to the diversion of all waste from landfill where it is technologically, environmentally and economically practicable to do so. ‘Unavoidable’ waste therefore refers to wastes for which no other current treatment is available including (but not limited to) asbestos, toxic and quarantine waste. 10 Diversion only from MSW household bin systems. 11 Quantities arising from total MSW waste comprising household bin systems, hard waste services, street sweepings, council-operated parks and gardens, public place locations, waste collected at drop-off facilities, and council-operated commercial services.
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Broader quantitative actions to achieve proposed targets
Municipal solid
waste
(MSW)
Key actions supporting
75% diversion by 2025
Household bin systems
x Increasing the recovery of recyclables in the yellow bin.
x Increasing the recovery of organics and food waste in the green bin and processed in accordance with Australian Standard Composts, Soil
Conditioners and Mulches – 4454.
x Provide minimum kerbside bin-based collection services to all households in metropolitan Adelaide:
o Organics, including food waste collections, at least fortnightly
o Recycling, at least fortnightly.
x All kerbside bins to be compliant with Australian Standard AS 4123.5-2008 Mobile waste containers as soon as practicable before 2030.
Food waste
x Implement South Australia’s Food Waste Strategy.
Hard waste collection
x Implement best-practice hard waste collection and treatment to maximise material recovery.
Community engagement
x Reduced contamination in kerbside collected bins.
x Household source separated material placed in the right bins.
x Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Which Bin? and other householder education campaigns.
Plastics and packaging
x 100% of packaging in South Australia is recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025, in support of Australian Government commitment to Australian
Packaging Covenant Organisation target.
Product stewardship
x South Australia to support effective product stewardship schemes.
Further priority actions for MSW are detailed at page 66.
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Commercial and
industrial
(C&I)
Key actions supporting
90% diversion by 2025
Procurement
x Increase procurement of secondary materials and recycled content products.
x Increase local remanufacturing.
x Implement standards for recycled content products.
Product stewardship
x South Australia to support effective product stewardship schemes.
Food waste
x Implement South Australia’s Food Waste Strategy.
Plastics and packaging
x 100% of packaging in South Australia is recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025, in support of Australian Government commitment to Australian
Packaging Covenant Organisation target.
Further priority actions for C&I are detailed at page 70.
Construction and
demolition
(C&D)
Key actions supporting
95% diversion by 2025
Procurement
x Increase procurement of secondary materials and recycled content products.
x Increase local remanufacturing.
x Implement further standards for recycled content products.
Product stewardship
x South Australia to support effective product stewardship schemes.
Waste levy
x Continued application of the levy to remain for construction and demolition materials.
Further priority actions for C&D are detailed at page 72.
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Partnerships
To achieve the Strategy’s objective, targets and priorities for action will require commitment, focus and appropriate resourcing from all sectors. The Strategy’s responsibility for implementation will be shared across governments, business, industry and the community. These responsibilities are defined in Figure 3. The Strategy has whole-of-government endorsement and strong alignment to other government activities including the South Australian Government’s goals and agenda for economic development, trade and investment, emergency services (supporting disaster waste management), health, climate change, environment protection and regulation, procurement, planning and development, and developing the food, wine and agriculture sectors.
Figure 3 – Roles and relationships in delivering South Australia’s waste strategy
Australian, state and territory environment ministers National Waste Policy and Action Plan
Direction and coordination
Green Industries SA Act 2004
Environment Protection Act 1993
Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010
South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2020–2025
EPA South Australia Waste reform and regulation
Green Industries SA Custodian
Broader State Government Embedding the Strategy in decision-making and procurement
Industry and business – waste generators Increased responsibility for products across their lifecycles and for wastes generated, including through production, design, and manufacturing. Designing products for durability, repair, reuse and recycling
Individuals Responsibility to change behaviour and reduce wasteful consumption, for example, through better purchasing decisions.
Local government regional resource management groups and other regional networks Regional planning for municipal waste and implementation of state-wide programs relating to waste environmental risk
Local government Planning, management, operation, collection, service
provision education and promotion programs on waste
Procurement of recovered resources
Environment and community groups Promotion of sustainable production, consumption
and waste reduction
Industry – resource recovery and recycling sector
Building industry capacity for resource-efficiency, underpinned by circular economy principles
Building stable markets for remanufacturing and secondary materials
Commercialisation of innovation and recycling and resource recovery infrastructure to stimulate the economy
International partners Supporting the delivery of Sustainable Development Goals and circular economy progress
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Evaluation and reporting Evaluation and reporting is important in building knowledge about resource recovery, waste and the circular economy,
and to assess the effectiveness of projects and programs. It is important to understand economic and environmental
costs and benefits, infrastructure needs, future waste streams for attention and areas needing regulatory underpinning.
Important areas of focus in evaluating programs and initiatives over the course of this Waste Strategy will include:
x developing a monitoring framework to measure the state’s progress towards a circular economy
x measuring recycling activity and material flows
x measuring demand on raw materials
x increasing transparency in reporting of materials and mass flows from industry, to enable evidence-based targets
relating to specific materials
x collecting and analysing litter data
x capturing, reporting and sharing industry and business experiences
x monitoring community attitudes and behaviours
x monitoring infrastructure and identifying gaps
x informing policy and design of projects with feedback
x monitoring industry investment
x measuring greenhouse gas emission, carbon, water, materials intensity and other outcomes
x investigating new and emerging opportunities to improve and reform South Australia’s environmental performance
in relation to waste management and the circular economy.
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Priorities for action
Areas with the potential for greatest impact
Transitioning to a circular economy
Marketdevelopment
Infrastructure capability and
capacityFood waste Plastics and
packaging
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1. Transitioning to a circular economy A transition to the circular economy is a priority
guiding focus for ‘South Australia’s Waste
Strategy 2020-2025’.
The Green Industries SA Act 2004 includes the
concept of circular economy as a guiding principle
for an economic model that contemplates the
production of goods and services:
x by a reduced reliance on virgin materials
x on the basis of continuously functioning
utility and an extended lifecycle
x in a manner that eliminates, as far as is
reasonably practicable, waste or pollution, or
harm to the environment.
‘Circular economy’ is a generic term for an
industrial economy that is producing no waste
and pollution, by design or intention. It refers to
the better use of materials within the economy
and involves more remanufacturing, repair and
reprocessing than the linear ‘make, use, dispose’
mode of traditional economies.
As the Ellen MacArthur Foundation points out
(2015), the existing economic model:
‘…gives rise to chronically high levels of waste and
creates dependence between economic
development and inputs of new virgin materials.
In a world of finite resources, this model cannot
work in the long run, and there are indications
that it is reaching its limits.’
A truly circular economy is driven by renewable
flows, rather than finite stocks. Better processes
and product design help capture the full benefit of
resources, and less materials and energy are used
to manufacture the goods and services. Goods
should be designed to last longer and be easily
repaired, upgraded or used differently.
During the term of the 2020-2025 waste strategy,
South Australia’s work towards a circular
economy will build upon current policy initiatives
and activities designed to reduce waste, improve
material and energy efficiency, and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
South Australia’s work to transition to a circular
economy will support the National Waste Policy
and Action Plan circular economy principles:
1. Avoid waste:
x Prioritise waste avoidance, encourage
efficient use, reuse and repair.
x Design products so waste is minimised,
they are made to last and we can more
easily recover materials.
2. Improve resource recovery:
x Improve material collection systems and
processes for recycling.
x Improve the quality of recycled material
we produce.
3. Increase use of recycled material and build
demand and markets for recycled products.
4. Better manage material flows to benefit
human health, the environment and the
economy.
5. Improve information to support innovation,
guide investment and enable informed
consumer decisions.
Commodity pricing and markets
A key challenge facing waste management,
resource recovery and green industry sectors in
South Australia, Australia and globally is in their
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vulnerability to sharp drops in commodity prices,
demand for resource types, and available finance.
While South Australia’s resource recovery
industry is well established, with around 86% of
all recovered material reprocessed locally and
about 7% exported overseas (Rawtec, 2019),
global restrictive measures that affect the trading
of recycled commodities can impact the viability
of South Australian recycling businesses that
depend on those markets. Ultimately, a circular
economy offers the opportunity to gain additional
value from products and materials but also helps
mitigate exposure to material price volatility and
material supply (Ellen MacArthur Foundation,
2015).
It has been found that in many developed
countries, a reduction in the volume of waste
generated is an indication of a development
towards less material-intensive production and
consumption patterns, particularly as the
economy moves from a heavy industry base to a
more service base.
Per capita waste generation
To truly reflect the personal impact that South
Australians can make in reducing their waste
impact and shifting focus towards a circular
economy, the Waste Strategy includes a waste
generation reduction target of 5% per capita by
2025. This will require continued efforts to
decouple the generation of waste from economic
activity, as is the key focus globally in seeking a
transition to a circular economy.
Transitioning to a circular economy
What happens if we don’t take action?
x There are finite and in some cases declining amounts of the raw materials upon which economic
development has depended. New methods and sources will be needed for future development.
x The resource recovery industry is vulnerable to sharp drops in commodity prices, demand for resource
types and available finance.
What is possible through action?
9 An opportunity for South Australia to build on achievements in reducing waste, improving material
and energy efficiency, and driving growth in the waste and resource recovery sectors of its economy.
9 Support for the National Waste Policy and Action Plan and its principles relating to the circular
economy.
9 A resilient South Australian economy that produces little waste and pollution by design or intention.
9 By 2030, as many as 25,700 jobs created in a circular economy (Green Industries SA. 2017b).
9 Potential reduction in the state’s greenhouse gas emissions of 27%, or 7.7 million tonnes in CO2
equivalent.
9 Innovation and commercialisation of new technologies that can facilitate a shift to circular economy
business models.
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Priority actions
Avoid waste:
9 Encourage businesses and start-ups to adopt business models that support a transition to the circular
economy, for example in sharing, hire and leasing, products service systems, and incentivised return
asset management.
9 Promote design of products and components to increase reparability, durability, upgradability and
recyclability.
9 Support reuse and repair.
9 Advocate for product labelling standards to enable better dismantling, reuse and recycling of products
and information relating to recycled content.
Improve resource recovery:
9 Invest in infrastructure that supports circular economy flows, either as:
x organic material, designed to re-enter and regenerate the environment safely (such as compost)
x materials (such as metals, paper and plastic) that are designed to circulate for as long as possible
through repair, reuse and, as a last resort, recycling, without entering the environment for disposal.
Increase use of recycled material and build demand and markets for recycled products.
9 Promote manufacturing of products and components that replace virgin materials with sustainably
produced materials.
Better manage material flows to benefit human health, the environment and the economy.
9 Advocate for extended producer responsibility schemes that deliver recycling outcomes and achieve
higher outcomes on the waste hierarchy (such as through better product design).
Improve information to support innovation, guide investment and enable informed consumer decisions.
9 Encourage research and development, commercialisation and innovation in new technologies,
including big data analytics, social media, trace and return systems, 3D printing and modular design
technologies.
9 Identify key sectors, materials and regions to benefit from the circular economy and seek to support
practical consideration and actions.
9 Support knowledge management and metrics for circular economy activities.
“South Australia’s work towards a circular economy will build upon current policy
initiatives and activities designed to reduce waste, improve material and energy
efficiency, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.”
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2. Market development Increased domestic demand for local recyclable
materials and recycled-content products can play
a vital role in attracting investment in local
remanufacturing and supporting longer-term
structural adjustment of the waste sector to a
circular economy business model.
The success of this Waste Strategy requires an
increase in the quality and market demand for
recyclable materials and recycled content
products. This is especially vital as the impacts of
global and national policy focuses attention on
creating market opportunities for new,
sustainable products made from recycled
materials.
Nationally, Environment Ministers have agreed on
a number of actions to reduce waste generation,
improve recyclability of waste, and increase
domestic recycling capacity and demand for
recycled products. The Council of Australian
Government, for example, has committed to
banning the export of recyclable material
including waste plastic, paper, glass and tyres
(Council of Australian Government, 2019).
South Australia should expand market-related
activities for existing recycled-content products,
improve the quality and supply of waste feedstock
used in manufacturing recycled-content products,
and improve market confidence in the recycled
materials and recycled-content products. This will
generate confidence in and demand for quality
recycled products.
Sustainable procurement
A nationally consistent standardised methodology
for requiring supply agreements to incorporate
recycled content products will increase the
market for recycled products.
This aligns with the intention of the National
Waste Policy to advocate for increased use of
recycled materials in the goods that government
and industry buy, such as paper, road materials
and construction materials, and to collaborate on
creating new markets for recycled materials12.
Longer-term measures can be managed through a
staged approach, for example, selected materials
to be implemented first in such as use of glass fine
in civil construction applications or sector-based
circular economy policy and case studies.
Market development
What happens if we don’t take action?
x Poor demand and local market development for recycled content products.
x Sustainable products prevented from accessing or building markets.
x Lost opportunities to drive innovation and market development in products.
12 Seventh meeting of Environment Ministers, Agreed Statement – 27 April 2018, Melbourne
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x Continued demand on raw materials with a higher environmental footprint, contributing to higher
greenhouse gas emissions, water and energy use; greater impacts to agriculture and deforestation; and
increased waste production.
x An uneven playing field for market development of sustainable products.
What is possible through action?
9 Boosts to local market demand and local employment.
9 Reduced demand on raw materials.
9 Increased demand for recycled products.
9 Increased diversion from landfill.
9 ‘Closing the loop’ on products entering the recycling stream by generating demand for recycled
products.
9 Increased environmental benefits.
9 Potential lifecycle benefits (value for money) compared to using virgin materials.
9 South Australia continues to perform as, and is perceived as, a leader in circular economy activity.
9 Development of new markets and contribution to the resilience and stability of existing markets.
Priority actions
¾ Investigate barriers for sustainable procurement (in state and local governments and industry) and
identify measures to overcome these, including through legislation and policy.
¾ Identify and recommend priority recovered materials and recycled-content products to be mandated for
use in the government and industry procurement system, in the short and medium term.
¾ Develop successful procurement case studies demonstrating benefits of using recycled-content products
to government and industry.
¾ Identify relevant training needs for procurement practitioners and developing tools for capacity building
in sustainable procurement.
¾ Collaborate in and advocate for nationally consistent standards and/or frameworks for the requirement of
recycled-content products in government procurement.
¾ Support the development of accredited testing for product standards and performance to increase
confidence in the quality of remanufactured products.
¾ Develop government fit-out requirements to support increased resource recovery and material reuse and
repurpose.
¾ Ensure a robust regulatory environment that supports local market development for remanufactured
products.
¾ Include recycled content measures in government infrastructure projects.
¾ Develop monitoring and reporting mechanisms for sustainable procurement.
“Increased domestic demand for local recyclable materials and recycled-content products
can play a vital role in attracting investment in local remanufacturing and supporting
longer-term structural adjustment of the waste sector to a circular economy business
model domestically.”
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3. Infrastructure capability and capacity South Australia’s Waste Strategy 2015-20 includes
a long-term strategic objective of increasing and
maintaining the capacity of South Australia’s
recycling systems and reprocessing infrastructure.
South Australia has established integrated waste
management infrastructure throughout the state,
with the State Government generating much of
this infrastructure through support programs and
co-investment. Waste and resource recovery
infrastructure planning and investment will play
critical roles in supporting future industry
development and economic growth.
In February 2018, following stakeholder
consultation, Green Industries SA released its
‘Waste and Resource Recovery Infrastructure
Plan’. The plan projects investment needs for
waste management and resource recovery
infrastructure over the next 10-30 years. It
models scenarios for waste flow projections,
corresponding infrastructure needs and economic
impact assessments under:
x moderate additional diversion – slightly more
than business as usual) over a 10-year period
x high additional diversion – aspirational goal
of zero waste across metropolitan Adelaide
and high diversion rates in regional areas)
over a 30-year period.
Green Industries SA’s Infrastructure Grants
Program helps private sector, local government
and not-for-profit organisations to invest in
infrastructure and find innovative approaches to
increasing the resource recovery and reducing the
amount of waste sent to landfill.
Infrastructure capability and capacity
What happens if we don’t take action?
x Reliance on volatile overseas markets for recovered recyclables.
x Missed opportunities for local resource recovery capacity and to stimulate economic activity and job
creation.
x Infrastructure capability does not meet waste generation requirements.
x Illegal activity and stockpiling of materials.
What is possible through action?
9 Support for South Australian industry development and economic growth.
9 South Australia’s world-class recycling performance is maintained.
9 Transition to a more resource efficient, circular economy.
9 Continued resource recovery infrastructure investment avoid landfill costs; reduce the use of virgin
materials, energy and water; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and boost economic development.
9 Help for the South Australian recycling industry and local government to respond to global policy
changes affecting the markets for recyclable materials.
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9 Support for the processing of materials banned from landfill under the Environment Protection
(Waste to Resources) Policy 2010.
9 Prioritising local processing of materials.
9 South Australia becomes a waste management training destination for Australian and overseas
professionals (such as in behaviour change, systems design and deployment, and alternative
technology policy).
Priority actions
¾ Encourage innovation by tackling new waste streams and assisting improvements to efficiency and
targeting new market segments.
¾ Continue investment in resource recovery infrastructure.
¾ Improve knowledge and awareness of resource recovery infrastructure as being essential
infrastructure for the functioning of society and the economy.
¾ Improve knowledge and opportunities in relation to the potential return on investment in the
resource recovery sector.
¾ Support soft infrastructure investment in workforce planning, training and talent retention in the
resource recovery industry.
¾ Set best practice standards for recovered resources and ensure regulatory compliance in the sector.
¾ Ensure planning and investment in waste and resource recovery infrastructure to provide adequate
waste management resilience and continuity in response to disaster and other significant disruptive
events.
“Waste and resource recovery infrastructure planning and investment will play
critical roles in supporting
future industry development and economic growth.”
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4. Food waste The volume and value of wasted food present
opportunities to further divert food waste from
landfill and minimise losses throughout the food
value chain.
A number of initiatives in South Australia
currently contribute to food waste reduction and
diversion from landfill, including:
x the application of the solid waste levy for all
waste (including food waste) disposed to
landfill
x dedicated facilities and infrastructure to
process food waste into compost and other
soil improvement products
x provision of kerbside food waste diversion
incentives to councils
x segregated commercial food waste collection
services available across metropolitan
Adelaide
x anaerobic digestion for energy recovery and
subsequent composting
x support for food recovery organisations such
as Foodbank and Oz Harvest to divert fresh
and non-perishable surplus food to charities.
Nationally, the Australian Government’s National
Food Waste Strategy requires each Australian
state and territory to achieve a 50% reduction in
food waste by 2030. This aligns with the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12.3:
‘By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at
the retail and consumer levels and reduce food
losses along production and supply chains,
including post-harvest losses’.
In addition to diverting food waste from
households, action will be required in the
agricultural and commercial and industrial sectors
to reduce food waste. Over-production, food
spoilage (for example, due to logistical, storage or
marketing and commercialisation factors), and
wastage at point of sale all contribute to the
problem. Collection systems, education, and
possible legislative measures to reduce the
amount of food waste disposed to landfill should
be explored. In Massachusetts, a ban on the
disposal of food waste is having significant effects
on the amount of food waste diverted from
landfill (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 2018).
A Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre
(CRC) has been established to examine how to
reduce food waste throughout the supply chain,
transform unavoidable waste into innovative
high-value co-products, and engage with industry
and consumers to change behaviours.
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Food waste
What happens if we don’t take action?
x Food waste continues to create significant greenhouse gas emissions, both at the end of its lifecycle
when it produces methane if disposed to landfill and through lost embodied resources.
x Internationally, it is estimated that one-third of all food is wasted between production and disposal.
x Energy, water, money and resources used to produce, process and transport the food continue to be
lost in avoidable food waste.
x Costs to consumers: estimated food waste costs the Australian economy $20 billion annually
(Australian Government, 2017).
x Opportunities to reduce food insecurity are lost.
x Continued over-production, food spoilage (for example, due to logistical, storage or marketing and
commercialisation factors), and wastage at point of sale.
What is possible through action?
9 Preventing organic material from going to landfill will preserve organic carbon and nutrients for
more valuable uses in land management and food production.
9 Diverting food waste to composting helps soil fertility and replenishes soil carbon and nutrient
stocks, while mitigating climate change.
9 Greenhouse gas savings and environmental benefits resulting from composting, including:
o less energy needed for irrigation, due to improved water storage and water use efficiency
o reduced demand for biocides (chemical substances including insecticides, disinfectants and
pesticides used to control organisms that are harmful to health) will result in reduced greenhouse
gas emissions associated with biocide production, due to improved soil and plant health
o reduced diesel use for soil cultivation due to improved tilth
o increased carbon sequestration from higher biomass production, due to improved soil
productivity
o reduced nitrogen loss that cause secondary nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, due to lower nitrogen
surplus and leaching
o reduced erosion that causes loss of nutrients and organic matter and results in secondary N2O
emission and those associated with replacing lost nutrients
o less food insecurity and demand on natural resources.
9 Social benefits, including support for welfare agencies.
Priority actions
Kerbside food waste diversion systems
¾ Provide continued financial support for roll out of area-wide, high-performing food waste collection
systems.
¾ Pilot and evaluate models of alternative bin and collection systems for high-density dwellings where
little or no garden waste is generated.
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¾ Develop legislation to harmonise the three-bin system across all metropolitan councils and include
fortnightly collection of co-mingled recyclables and fortnightly collection of organics, including food
waste, as minimum services to all households.
¾ Work with councils to pilot more frequent collection of household organics bins.
¾ Research the effectiveness of kitchen caddy systems to support organic recycling.
¾ Require new or significant high-density developments to allocate sufficient area to store and access
three-bin segregated waste and recycling services and/or vacuum technologies provided by council or
private contractors.
Behaviour change
¾ Work with government and industry partners to research interventions that change behaviours to
promote waste avoidance.
¾ Introduce a state-wide campaign to promote the three-bin system, including use of the green organics
bin for food waste and home composting systems.
¾ Encourage home-based approaches for diverting food waste, including home composting, worm
farms and feeding to poultry.
¾ Develop education and awareness tools for South Australian householders that support food waste
prevention and recycling at home.
Precinct collections
¾ Develop and trial procurement of precinct organics collections from business premises within
significant food retail areas.
¾ Evaluate precinct collection trials and broader application of the model.
¾ Investigate legislative options to:
o restrict the disposal of organics from businesses to landfill
o enforce food waste collection from businesses.
Events and out of home
¾ Adopt the minimum three-bin system for council-run or sponsored events.
¾ Mandate the use of compostable food service ware at events and for home delivery and takeaway
food.
Food rescue
¾ Identify opportunities for and barriers to increased collection and distribution of surplus food through
food rescue organisations, including where supply chains may be impacted (e.g. during natural
disasters or other disruptive environmental, social and/or economic events).
¾ Support infrastructure to increase the recovery of high-quality surplus food for redistribution to those
in need.
Infrastructure funding
¾ Provide financial incentives such as grants and loans to encourage the establishment and
enhancement of resource recovery infrastructure, processes and technologies that divert food waste.
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¾ Provide infrastructure support for anaerobic digestion and incorporating bioenergy recovery into
processes where residual outputs are diverted to composting processes or applied to land following
energy recovery.
Market support
¾ Support infrastructure investment in locally produced compostable Australian Standard-certified
items.
¾ Support the development and expansion of viable and sustainable markets for composting products
and outputs arising from the increased recovery of food and other organic wastes, including through
standards, specifications and guidelines.
¾ Procurement of compost for public parks and gardens.
5. Plastics and packaging The use of plastics has increased twenty-fold in
the past half-century and is expected to double
again in the next 20 years (Green Industries SA,
2019b). Due to their many functions and low cost,
plastics have become ubiquitous and play an
important role in our daily lives. For example,
plastic packaging can assist in food safety and
sometimes reduce food waste; bio-compatible
plastics combined with 3D printing can support
medical innovation; and light plastic materials
used in the design of cars or planes can save fuel
(Green Industries SA, 2019).
While they can deliver these benefits, the way
plastics are currently produced, used and
discarded has many drawbacks.
x Plastics production uses the same volumes
of fossil fuels as the aviation sector,
representing around 6% of global oil
consumption.
x The amount of marine litter is increasing and
affecting ecosystems, biodiversity and
potentially human health (United Nations
Environment Programme, 2016). Studies in
the European Union (EU) have found plastic
to be the main source of marine litter as it is
almost non-biodegradable. It also has toxic
and other harmful impacts.
x About 80% of marine debris arises from land-
based sources (UNEP, 2016). Common marine
litter items include glass and plastic bottles,
cans, bags, balloons, rubber, metal,
fibreglass, cigarettes and other manufactured
materials, fishing gear such as line, ropes,
hooks, buoys (CSIRO, 2016).
x Single-use plastics, and in particular plastic
packaging, are widely available, persistent,
and may enter the environment, and
ultimately the marine environment, through
littering.
These impacts are increasing each year as
Australians generate more plastic waste.
The need to reduce the environmental, economic
and social harm associated with plastics is widely
recognised. Under target 14 of the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goal, ‘Conserve and
sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine
resources’ (United Nations, 2015b), international
governments have agreed to prevent and
significantly reduce marine pollution from land-
based activities by 2025. The EU announced in
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late 2018 its intention to ban single-use plastic
items such as plates, cutlery, straws, balloon
sticks and cotton buds; for several other single-
use items for which no current alternative exists,
and which are not banned outright, it intends to
impose reduction targets and associated
timeframes (European Parliament, 2018).
The New Plastics Economy – Rethinking the future
of plastics provides a vision for a system in which
plastics never become waste (World Economic
Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and
McKinsey & Company, 2016).
In early 2019, the South Australian Government
released two discussion papers, Turning the tide
on single-use plastic products and Improving
South Australia’s recycling makes cents. These
papers sought ideas about measures to protect
the environment from impacts associated with
single-use plastic products and to improve the
effectiveness of South Australia’s container
deposit scheme.
Respondents strongly supported more measures
to address single-use plastic products and
government intervention. A report summarising
feedback on the discussion paper is available on
the YourSay and GISA websites.
There are policy options that could tackle
problematic single-use plastic products, ranging
from voluntary industry-led approaches to
restricting market access for single-use plastic
products for which suitable, lower-impact
alternatives exist.
Legislation has been used successfully in South
Australia to introduce the container deposit
scheme and ban light-weight plastic bags. Similar
legislation could be developed to provide a
flexible and long-term framework that enables
market restrictions on various single-use plastic
products, with varying timeframes and impact
assessments.
Further consultation – through a stakeholder
working group of industry, business, local
government and interest group stakeholders –
has now informed associated impacts and the
development of the Single-use and Other Plastic
Products (Waste Avoidance) Bill 2020. The Bill was
introduced to Parliament on 30 April 2020 and
proposes to phase-out certain single-use plastic
products.
Work will include progressing:
x Plastic-free precincts
x An immediate prohibition from sale, supply
and distribution of plastic straws, cutlery and
beverage stirrers following commencement
of the legislation.
x Prohibition on single-use expanded
polystyrene food service products detailed
within the legislation, as well as oxo-
degradable plastic, 12 months following
commencement of the legislation.
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Plastics and packaging
What happens if we don’t take action?
x The potential economic and environmental benefits of a more resource-efficient and circular
approach are not realised and the wasteful take-make-dispose economic model is sustained.
x Single-use plastics and plastic packaging continue to enter the environment, including the marine
environment, through littering.
x If current trends continue, the ocean is expected to contain one tonne of plastic for every three
tonnes of fish by 2025, and by 2050 more plastics than fish by weight. In addition to harming the
environment (particularly wildlife impacts), marine litter damages activities such as tourism, fisheries
and shipping (Green Industries SA, 2019b).
x Continued use of fossil feedstocks to produce plastics and packaging.
x Innovative opportunities in alternatives to single-use plastics unrealised.
What is possible through action?
9 Less use of fossil feedstocks, which has a significant carbon impact.
9 Reduced waste and litter in lands and waterways.
9 Innovation opportunities in South Australia for market development and manufacturing alternatives
to single-use plastics.
9 Support for South Australia’s more resource-efficient and circular approach, moving away from the
wasteful take-make-dispose economic model.
Priority actions
¾ Implement the phase-out of single-use and other plastic products in South Australia.
¾ Investigate opportunities to reduce, minimise or eliminate single-use plastic products.
¾ Support Australian Government target of 100% Australian packaging to be recyclable, compostable or
reusable by 2025, to be delivered by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation.
¾ Advocate for packaging to be covered by a regulated extended producer responsibility scheme under
the Product Stewardship Act 2011.
¾ Introduce strategies to find replacements for single-use plastic products, including increasing South
Australia’s remanufacturing of these products.
¾ Review the container deposit scheme and investigate opportunities to further reduce container
littering, increase resource recovery and support a circular economy, and continue to embed product
stewardship obligations.
“Single-use plastics, and in particular plastic packaging, is widely available,
persistent, and at best prone to disposal to landfill rather than recycling and
at worst prone to littering where it may enter the environment, and
ultimately the marine environment.”
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Priority actions by waste stream Municipal solid waste
The draft Waste Strategy encourages action to
recapture South Australia’s leadership in
municipal solid waste (MSW) resource recovery,
including through actions detailed to support
high-performing kerbside household bin systems
as articulated on page 48.
Continued and consistent effort in educating
householders and making producers responsible
for their waste are also needed.
Examination of kerbside recycling and other
services solely within an assessment of their
financial costs does not consider their total
financial, environmental and social costs and
benefits. Benefits may include avoided costs from
air and water pollution associated with landfill,
avoided manufacture from virgin materials,
reduced global warming impacts, and landfill
disposal saving.
Standardising efforts across council areas can
increase collaboration and maximise resources in
technology and operational savings, better
collection and sorting systems, and consistent
education messaging. Further, standardisation
and mandatory reporting of waste management
and recycling collection data could help councils
understand where cost savings could be realised.
To support progress in this sector, the draft Waste
Strategy proposes that a minimum diversion of
55% from household three-bin systems by 2022
be adopted for the metropolitan area, with an
overall MSW diversion stretch target of 70% to be
achieved by 2025. This will be challenging but it
provides stimulus for action.
Increasing MSW diversion will also require
encouraging diversification of materials captured
and processed for recycling such as soft film
plastics and packaging and a range of problematic
materials including batteries, electronic waste (e-
waste) and hazardous wastes.
Regional areas, including Aboriginal land
holdings and outback areas
Considering the challenges in addressing recycling
trends in non-metropolitan areas, it is suggested
that defined intentions rather than set targets are
retained.
Recycling and other waste management initiatives
are often difficult to implement and sustain due
to the dispersed nature of communities in
regional and remote South Australia. This
difficulty is often exacerbated by community
priorities and expectations, as well as limited
funds and resources.
Two key reports prepared by Green Industries SA
outline the issues in Aboriginal land holdings and
outback areas: the 2011 Waste Management in
the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (or
APY) Lands, Past, Present and Future, known as
‘The Rubbish Report’, and The Outback Waste
Management Report’ (2012). Both reports
provided recommendations for a strategic
approach to reducing waste (including beverage
containers, white goods and car bodies),
increasing resource recovery, improving landfill
management and promoting awareness of
recycling practices across the APY Lands and in
outback areas.
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The success of any waste management or related
initiative in these regions will require ongoing
management and funding provision.
Municipal solid waste
What happens if we don’t take action?
x Lost opportunities to improve diversion of materials including green organics and food organics.
x Existing kerbside diversion systems underused.
x Inconsistent collection services across metropolitan Adelaide.
x Contamination of separated materials in kerbside bins.
x Poor upfront planning in waste and recycling services.
x Minimal community awareness and adoption of required behaviour changes.
x Potential savings unrealised.
What is possible through action?
9 Harmonised bin collection systems across metropolitan Adelaide.
9 More diversion of material recovered from residual bins in existing systems.
9 Progress in meeting National Food Waste targets.
9 Reduced contamination of source-separated recycling enabling a better quality recycling stream.
9 Community more aware of wasteful consumption and effective recycling and able to divert more
material from the kerbside.
9 Better waste-management planning for waste and recycling services in developments.
9 Diversifying the type of materials capable of being diverted from households through the kerbside
recycling bin.
Priority actions
Systems and technology
¾ Increase material diversion rates through provision of harmonised bin-based collection services and
frequency of service across metropolitan Adelaide, including the regulatory introduction of minimum
service standards for organics and recyclable collections.
¾ Continue to advocate for standardisation in collections and contracts across councils.
¾ Monitor and review kerbside collection systems to ensure maximum performance.
¾ Introduce mandatory minimum fortnightly collections for kerbside collected recyclables and organics
in all councils.
¾ Improve flexibility for councils relating to the frequency of collections and variable price charging for
residual household waste.
¾ Promote reduced contamination of source-separated systems.
¾ Encourage increased diversion of materials arising from hard waste services, street sweepings, waste
collected at drop-off facilities, and council-operated commercial services.
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¾ Support new technology for residential and mixed-se developments (for example, vacuum systems
and cross-development and precinct infrastructure).
¾ Implement better contracting and monitoring for household collection services, including application
of technology such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and communication technologies for
wheelie bins and truck monitoring systems, and website applications which provide data to
households.
¾ Encourage planning in response to disaster and other disruptive events to ensure continuity of waste
management services and/or adapting to changed waste management requirements.
Food waste
¾ Adopt and support the National Food Waste Strategy 50% reduction target by 2030 by promoting
food-waste prevention measures.
¾ Encourage the uptake of food waste collection systems, including potential for legislative reform to
increase the recovery of this material.
Planning
¾ Promote and encourage developers, architects, planning authorities, waste consultants and industry
and strata and community corporations to adopt the ‘Better Practice Guide Waste Management in
Residential or Mixed Use Developments’ relating to waste and recycling services in higher density
urban living.
¾ Review best-practice waste management guidance for residential and mixed-use developments and
investigate options to mandate its use for all new high-rise developments.
Recovery
¾ Diversify the type of materials captured and processed for recycling such as soft film plastics,
packaging, batteries, e-waste from the kerbside recycling bin.
¾ Advocate for national solutions to problematic wastes such as packaging and hazardous wastes and
consider state-based solutions if required.
Legislative reform
¾ Support the continued implementation of the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy.
¾ Develop and implement waste-reform initiatives such as mass balance reporting, waste levy
collection, assessment of waste-derived materials, stockpile management controls, product bans, and
landfill bans.
¾ Maximise recycling efficiency at all stages (collection, preprocessing – including separation and sorting
– and end processing) to reduce material losses.
Regional areas, Aboriginal land holdings and outback areas
¾ Advocate for ongoing action and responsibility to enable coordinated and integrated waste
management in regional areas, Aboriginal land holdings and outback areas.
¾ Encourage systems to reduce litter and improve waste management in regional areas, Aboriginal land
holdings and outback areas, including the recovery of resources such as beverage containers, white
goods and car bodies.
¾ Support awareness activities for sustainable waste management practices within the APY Lands.
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Waste generation reduction: behaviour change
¾ Support coordinated and integrated householder recycling education campaigns and use innovative
approaches to inform households and increase awareness of wasteful consumption, effective
recycling and reducing contamination.
¾ Engage the community and business in opportunities involving collaborative consumption, industrial
symbiosis, re-localisation, re-manufacturing and re-making to work towards a circular economy.
¾ Investigate online platforms to map waste avoidance and collaborative consumption and production
activities.
¾ Encourage the engagement of policy makers, community leaders and businesses looking to develop
strategies to incorporate circular economy thinking into their practices.
“Standardising efforts across council areas also has the potential to increase
collaboration and optimisation of resources and effort.”
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Commercial and industrial waste
The commercial and industrial (C&I) sector is
dispersed, diverse and competitive. Limitations on
resources, staff and expertise can be barriers to
introducing changes and managing waste, while
markets for materials may be underdeveloped.
The greatest opportunity for change in the sector
is through increasing the recovery of food waste.
Encouraging the use of recycling systems,
resources and tools for workplaces to assist with
ongoing awareness in resource recovery will also
be important.
Additionally, supporting the draft Waste
Strategy’s objectives in Sustainable Procurement,
particularly within government, will be crucial.
Continued support to priority industries and
sectors requiring business sustainability assistance
will also be vital.
Commercial and industrial waste
What happens if we don’t take action?
x Markets for materials underdeveloped.
x Dispersed and highly varied collection arrangements and processing infrastructure.
x Opportunities to divert food waste not addressed.
What is possible through action?
9 Improved separation of materials.
9 Increased diversion of food waste.
9 Sustainable procurement actions supported.
9 Improved economies of scale in collections.
Priority actions
¾ Encourage improved source separation, collection systems (including weight-based charging and
precinct based collection routes) and sorting infrastructure.
¾ Support Food Waste priority actions.
¾ Reduce barriers to industry and government use of recycled materials in projects or products.
¾ Encourage all levels of government to consider adopting Sustainable Procurement practices and
policies that increase the use of re-manufactured products and coordinate procurement efforts to
achieve economies of scale and strengthen recycling markets.
¾ Develop a waste strategy for the South Australian Government.
¾ Identify solutions to achieve diversion in regional areas.
¾ Support the continued implementation of the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy.
¾ Develop and implement legislative waste reform initiatives such as mass balance reporting, waste levy
collection, assessment of waste-derived materials, stockpile management controls, product bans, and
landfill bans.
¾ Encourage the use of recycling systems, resources and tools for workplaces to promote awareness.
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¾ Work with economic development agencies to support sustainable activity in key sectors and new
business opportunities to build a circular economy.
¾ Embed waste reduction and management practices in tertiary, vocational education and training
courses.
¾ Mandate compliance with waste minimisation guidelines for State Government-managed or funded
events.
¾ Promote procurement of sustainable and re-manufactured materials and products, especially in the
government sector.
¾ Identify and support priority industries and sectors requiring business sustainability assistance.
¾ Encourage improved processes during commercial ‘strip-outs’ and refurbishments to support
increased resource recovery and material reuse.
¾ Encourage consolidation of collection and infrastructure development in precincts.
¾ Investigate opportunities to increase food-waste recovery, including consideration of possible
legislative measures.
¾ Encourage planning in response to disaster and other disruptive events to ensure continuity of waste
management services and/or adapting to changed waste management requirements.
“The greatest area to encourage step change in the Commercial and Industrial
sector is through investigating opportunities to increase
the recovery of food waste.”
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Construction and demolition waste The segregation of materials on building and
construction sites to increase waste diversion will
require continued efforts. The removal of barriers
to market, such as the development of
specifications, will also be important.
Deconstruction will be another focus.
Deconstruction is an alternative to demolition
that enables materials to be kept intact and
separated to maximise the amount that can be
reused and recycled, so reducing the amount
disposed to landfill.
NSW has adopted requirements for house
deconstruction and has shown the economic
benefits possible through income generation and
the reduced costs associated with deconstruction
and landfill disposal (NSW Environment
Protection Authority, 2010).
US case studies have also demonstrated benefits
including significant job creation, better
employment conditions and educational
opportunities (Ellen MacArthur Foundation,
2013). In Japan, a new deconstruction technique
enabled the recovery of 99% of the steel and 92%
of the concrete from a building (Ellen MacArthur
Foundation, 2013).
In the first part of 2020, South Australia’s
construction and demolition waste industry has
been a significant contributor in ensuring the safe
and efficient removal of waste debris following
the 2019-20 bushfires experienced in areas across
the state. The learnings from this event will assist
informing an update to South Australia’s Disaster
Waste Management Capability Plan and
Guidelines.
Construction and demolition
What happens if we don’t take action?
x Continued barriers to market for secondary and processed materials.
x Poor operating standards regarding source-separation materials on site, resulting in contaminated,
mixed or ‘unclean’ waste streams and fewer opportunities for diversion or reuse.
x Poor planning and management of waste and recovery during building demolition
x Poor understanding of new materials used during construction, including how these can be recovered
at their end-of-life.
x Material savings and cost savings in construction.
What is possible through action?
9 Better practice standards for built environment.
9 Increased use of sustainable building materials.
9 Better segregation of materials on site.
9 Using sustainable procurement to create market opportunities for construction and demolition
materials.
9 Effective and efficient safe removal of waste debris resulting from disaster events.
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Priority actions
¾ Addressing procurement issues, including barriers to market such as the development of
specifications.
¾ Ensuring segregation of materials on build sites to increase waste diversion of uncontaminated
materials.
¾ Understanding how the increasing uptake of ‘prefabricated’ and new material components in the
construction of commercial and residential projects will impact on waste recycling.
¾ Integrating deconstruction requirements into planning processes and decisions, including ensuring
site surveys are undertaken and approved by councils before deconstruction.
¾ Monitor and report waste generation and destinations for recovered materials from building sites.
¾ Embed deconstruction principles into tertiary, vocational education and training courses to maximise
the full opportunities in building deconstruction and design.
¾ Encourage the responsible use of secondary materials such as concrete, aggregates, and fill materials.
¾ Support the continued implementation of the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy.
¾ Develop and implement legislative waste-reform initiatives including mass balance reporting, waste
levy collection, assessment of waste derived materials, stockpile management controls, product bans,
and landfill bans.
¾ Develop standards for ‘design of the built environment’ practices and the adoption of sustainable
building materials.
¾ Support adaptive reuse and retrofitting of existing building stock where possible.
¾ Develop operating standards to encourage better salvaging and re-use of building materials.
¾ Update South Australia’s Disaster Waste Management Capability Plan and Guidelines informed by
learnings of the 2019-20 bushfires clean-up response.
¾ Encourage planning in response to disaster and other disruptive events to ensure continuity of waste
management services and/or adapting to changed waste management requirements.
“Deconstruction will be another focus. Deconstruction is an alternative to
demolition that enables materials to be kept intact and separated, to maximise the
amount that can be reused and recycled, so
reducing the amount disposed to landfill.”
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Other priority actions (relevant to all streams) Natural disasters and other disruptive events Natural disasters, and particularly large-scale
natural disasters, can generate quantities of
waste that vastly exceed the capacity of the
affected area to manage the impacts, and which
threaten public health, hinder reconstruction and
impact the environment. Disaster waste
management affects almost every aspect of an
emergency response as well as the long-term
recovery of a disaster-affected area. If planned in
advance and managed effectively, the risk to the
environment and health of such disasters can be
prevented or minimised. At the same time,
generated waste can contribute to the disaster
recovery and rebuilding process, and may have a
positive effect on social and economic recovery.
In 2016, Green Industries SA completed a Stage 1
Disaster Waste Management Scoping Study with
funding support from the Australian Government.
The study examined whether South Australia had
in place disaster waste management practices and
an associated regulatory framework, and
developed waste profiles for selected flood,
severe storm, earthquake and bushfire scenarios.
It found that there is no framework for managing
disaster waste in South Australia, and that
disaster waste management practices have been
largely reactive with little pre-planning.
With the support of Australian Government
Natural Disaster Resilience Program funding,
Green Industries SA commenced Stage 2 work in
2017-18. This resulted in the development of a
Disaster Waste Management Plan and associated
practical guidelines and an implementation plan.
The project is the first of its kind in Australia.
Other disruptive events, such as significant
changes to international markets and global
pandemics, also have the ability to interrupt or
change waste requirements and services.
On 30 January 2020, the World Health
Organization declared the Coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) outbreak a Public Health Emergency
of International Concern (World Health
Organization, 2020). For many parts of South
Australia and globally, this is impacting the waste
system in various ways. Perhaps for the first time,
a recognition that waste management is (or at
least should be) designated as an essential service
alongside the likes of power and water supply has
emerged strongly. In response to the pandemic,
the sector has initiated business continuity
measures, including risk mitigation and
prevention for its workforce to ensure waste and
recyclables continue to be collected and
responsibly managed. While the response is
regularly changing, some of the impacts have
included:
x Operational and logistical adjustments to
maintain services.
x Closure of or reduced operations of waste
and resource recovery management facilities,
sites and transportation.
x Increased waste volumes generated in some
sectors (including supermarkets, health care
services and households) requiring changed
or increased waste requirements.
x Changed practices in handling of waste
resulting from COVID-19 in hospitals and
within households.
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x Decreased waste volumes in some sectors
where facilities or services are closed or
limited. This may be affecting parts of the
commercial and industrial sector, including
offices, restaurants and cafes, schools and
child care services, and events and venues.
x On demand services provided by local
government may be reduced (for example,
hard waste collections; street sweepings).
x Limited availability of personal protective
equipment for those delivering waste
services.
x Reduced or changed supply chains for food
rescue organisations due to increased
customer demand of groceries and
perishables, reducing the availability of items
for food donation.
This highlights a need to ensure the appropriate
framework, tools and support measures are in
place to ensure continuity of service delivery in
waste management, ensuring compliance with
public health and safety and ensuring flexibility in
responding to changed waste generation volumes
of patterns and available services and
infrastructure.
Retaining waste management as a core focus for
disaster preparedness and planning will remain as
a priority area.
Natural disasters and other disruptive events What happens if we don’t take action?
x Inadequate preparedness, response and recovery following disaster situations, including in
responding to increased or changed waste generation volumes or patterns and available services and
infrastructure.
x Recovery and reconstruction efforts threatened.
x Impacts on the environment.
x Lack of clear roles and responsibilities in disaster waste management.
x Closure of or reduction in essential waste management services.
x Poor public health and safety outcomes.
What is possible through action?
9 Capabilities for disaster resilience are built through clear responsibilities, more accessible
information and greater understanding of disaster waste management issues.
9 Improve outcomes by building capacity within individuals and organisations to undertake waste
management activities.
9 Provide local employment opportunities.
9 Innovation in delivering new or changed business models, products and services associated with
waste management services and infrastructure in response to disasters and emergency events.
9 Prevention of or reduction in impacts of waste management in natural disasters, including through
saving lives, alleviating suffering, facilitating rescue operations and minimising harm to the
environment and human health.
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9 Waste becomes a useful resource in rebuilding and a positive effect on local employment, social and
economic recovery.
9 Decision-making processes, roles and responsibilities are clear and defined, including the activities
to responsibly manage the waste, and the level of support the State Government can provide to
help affected communities and stakeholders.
9 The scale of waste impacts following a disaster is understood.
Priority actions
¾ Encourage waste management to be included as part of disaster preparedness and planning, including
natural disasters and other events which have the ability to disrupt normal waste services.
¾ Develop framework and tools to support responding to changes caused by any emergency event
having the ability to disrupt or change essential waste services.
¾ Encourage opportunities for recycled products to rebuild infrastructure in affected communities.
¾ Develop a framework and tools to gather and measure data and the intelligence to estimate debris
volumes or changed waste generation patterns.
¾ Encourage new or changed business models, products and services in delivering essential waste
management services and infrastructure for affected communities.
¾ Make available more information about disaster or emergency event waste management issues.
¾ Establish community education and engagement activities to support responsible waste management
following emergency events.
¾ Update South Australia’s Disaster Waste Management Capability Plan and Guidelines, informed by
learnings of the 2019-20 bushfires clean-up response.
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Finding solutions for emerging and problematic wastes ‘Like many of the background systems we take for
granted, such as the supply of water, electricity and gas
to our homes and the weekly rubbish collection, along
with the roadways that enable our car-based commute
to and from work, we seem to be able to focus only on
the “consumption phase” in the life cycle of any
particular domain. Everything outside the parameters of
what we now take for granted becomes “somebody
else’s problem”, something perhaps “they” should do
something about sooner or later.’
(Lehmann and Crocker, 2012)
Technology change and its rapid rate of
obsolescence – which, at its heart, may involve
intentionally designing products with limited life
spans – presents challenges. Additionally, the
supply of household solid waste grows
proportionally with populations (van Beukering
et al, 2014). Patterns of waste generation change,
and so do the types of chemicals and materials
used to make the products we buy. Increasing
material complexity (bio-composites, conductive
polymers, nanotechnology, electronics and more)
adds to these challenges as current recycling
processes cannot extract all the components from
purchased products.
Over the past decade, there has been a growth in
electronic waste, largely due to the significant
growth curve of new electronic technologies
combined with planned obsolescence. Under the
Australian Government’s Product Stewardship Act
2011, televisions, computers and computer
peripherals became the first products to have
their disposal regulated. The National Television
and Computer Recycling Scheme involves a
combination of government regulation and
industry action to take responsibility for the
collection and recycling of these items.
More recently, an observed increased uptake in
photovoltaic cells (PVC), has led the Australian
Government to list PVC as a priority product
under consideration for a product stewardship
approach.
While product stewardship provides a framework
to manage the environmental, health and safety
impacts of products, it alone cannot shift society
from the linear ‘take, make and dispose’ model.
Solutions are needed for future waste streams at
the point of design and before a product reaches
the consumer market.
The draft Waste Strategy highlights that we must
recognise that the products and their components
being made and used today will become the
waste of the future.
For example, global consumption of and waste
associated with textiles and clothing are growing,
predominantly due to increased clothing
production and decreased clothing utility (Ellen
MacArthur Foundation, 2017). Opportunities
within this industry should be investigated to
ensure that clothing, textiles and fibres are kept
at their highest value and utility.
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In other areas, the focus must shift to potential
waste streams at the design phase, in the
construction of our homes and workplaces,
construction of our vehicles, and manufacture of
other products we use daily, including single-use
items such as plastics and packaging (discussed
below).
In a circular economy, products are designed for
repair, reuse, disassembly, and eventually
recycling. This goes beyond traditional
approaches to product stewardship within
Australia, which have historically focussed on end-
of-life product management. It requires a shift in
the producer responsibility further up the waste
management hierarchy to consider the
environmental consequences of making, using
and disposing of a product, and for a value to be
placed on the product when it has reached its end
of life.
Problematic wastes
Under the National Waste Policy, the Australian
Government leads a national approach to product
stewardship. The Product Stewardship Act 2011
provides the framework to effectively manage the
environmental, health and safety impacts of
products, and in particular those impacts
associated with the disposal of products. The
framework includes voluntary, co-regulatory and
mandatory product stewardship.
The Australian Government is continuing to work
with state and territory governments and industry
to consider possible product stewardship
approaches for products. National solutions are in
place for a range of products including paint,
mercury containing lamps, computers and
televisions, and tyres. Solutions should also be
identified for products such as batteries (including
electric vehicle batteries and stationary batteries),
wastes associated with renewable technologies
(such as photovoltaic systems and fibreglass from
wind turbines), electrical and electronic products,
and plastic oil containers.
The Environment Protection Authority has started
work relating to the banning in South Australia of
hazardous materials such as certain
perfluorinated chemicals and of substances such
as firefighting foams containing ‘PFOS’ and ‘PFOA’
to eliminate contamination risks to waterways
and groundwater.
Green Industries SA has invested in establishing
four permanent facilities in metropolitan Adelaide
and will significantly support priority actions
within the final 2020-2025 Waste Strategy to
support the recovery of hazardous waste.
“The draft Waste Strategy highlights that we must recognise that the products and their components being made and used today will become the waste of the
future.”
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Finding solutions for emerging and problematic wastes
What happens if we don’t take action?
x Responsibility for environmental impacts involved in the production, handling, purchasing, use and
end-of-life management of products not defined.
x Poor planning and understanding of future waste materials at the point of design.
x Lost opportunities to encourage products to be designed applying circular economy principles for
repair, reuse, and disassembly, and eventually recycling.
x The potential economic and environmental benefits of a more resource-efficient and circular approach
are not realised and the wasteful take-make-dispose economic model is sustained.
x Consumers are not provided with convenient and accessible disposal options for a range of materials.
x Valuable material that could be brought back into the economy is lost.
x Continued disposal of problematic waste materials to landfill or more frequently disposed through
drainage systems or directly to the environment (such as paint or oils), or devaluing the collection of
other recycling streams through contamination.
x Shared responsibility of manufacturers, importers, governments and consumers in managing the
impacts of a product.
x Estimated five-fold growth in clothing sales by 2050 will have significant economic, environmental and
social costs (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017).
What is possible through action?
9 Manufacturers, importers, governments and consumers share responsibility for managing the
impacts of a product.
9 Product management of end-of-life disposal considered in all stages of product research and
development.
9 Easier access to convenient and safe collection and disposal for problematic waste materials.
9 Fewer hazards, injuries and health impacts because less toxic alternatives are used.
9 Management and remediation of waste fill and intermediate level contaminated soils.
9 Rare and valuable materials are recovered.
9 Easier access to convenient and safe collection and disposal of problematic waste materials.
9 Waste fill and soil contamination are minimised, managed and remediated.
9 Better understanding of design needs for products and market development.
Priority actions
Product stewardship
¾ Encourage product stewardship frameworks to extend beyond traditional approaches to managing
disposal to those that encourage design for repair, reuse, disassembly, and eventually recycling.
¾ Recognise the role and responsibility of business and industry in the development and
implementation of product stewardship schemes.
Page | 80
¾ Advocate for packaging to be a regulated extended producer responsibility scheme under the Product
Stewardship Act 2011.
¾ Make business and industry responsible for the development and implementation of product
stewardship schemes.
Textiles
¾ Research opportunities that may reduce the generation of textile waste and increase the recovery of
textiles.
¾ Advocate for approaches that motivate individuals to dispose of unwanted textiles in a responsible
manner.
Problematic wastes
¾ Provide convenient drop-off facilities for unwanted and hazardous household and farm materials.
¾ Encourage the recovery and treatment of oils, solvents and other valuable materials for reuse.
¾ Reduce hazards through hazardous waste collection, recycling and appropriate disposal.
¾ Encourage reuse of waste fill and intermediate level contaminated soils where appropriate as a
priority and remediate low level and high level contaminated soils for reuse.
¾ Reduce hazards through waste collection, recycling and appropriate disposal.
¾ Encourage the use of less toxic alternatives in industry and in households.
¾ Promote the adoption of Extended Producer Responsibility, including state-based approaches where
considered necessary, and encourage continuous improvement in existing producer responsibility and
related schemes, for example in relation to televisions and computers (e-waste), packaging, gas
bottles, batteries (including from electric vehicles), wastes associated with renewable technologies
(including photovoltaic systems and fibreglass from wind turbines), tyres, hazardous wastes,
mattresses and rare earth elements and compounds.
Page | 81
Waste reform, litter and illegal dumping In South Australia, significant work has been
undertaken through reforming the regulatory
settings for the waste management and resource
recovery industry to achieve industry certainty
and improved environmental outcomes.
The Environment Protection (Waste Reform)
Amendment Act 2017 (Waste Reform Act), for
example, took effect in November 2017; it
provides strengthened powers under the
Environment Protection Act 1993 (EP Act)
through:
x explicit powers to regulate material flow and
stockpiling through amendments to the
Objects of the EP Act and new powers
regarding stockpiling conditions
x expanding the circumstances in which
financial assurances (including insurance) can
be used to protect against environmental,
abandonment and distortion risks while
supporting innovation
x improving the processes and evidentiary
requirements to assess materials as approved
recovered resources, to support innovative
and safe resource recovery
x improving powers for tackling breaches of
licence conditions
x strengthened powers for the EPA to
prosecute illegal dumping cases.
The Waste Reform Act’s amendments are
considered the necessary first legislative step to
empower the EPA to address further pressing
waste reform issues, including mass balance
reporting, stockpile management controls and the
assessment of waste-derived materials.
The waste levy is an important economic tool for
managing waste, encouraging recycling and
funding environmental initiatives. The levy
provides an incentive to reduce the amount of
waste sent to landfill and is critical to ensuring
resource recovery activities remain viable. It also
provides a financial incentive for industry to seek
alternatives for the disposal of waste and to
facilitate investment into future technologies,
processes and resource recovery systems in South
Australia.
Defined incremental increases to the levies have
been pursued to improve waste management
practices and encourage resource recovery and
reuse.
In South Australia, there is no longer a levy on the
disposal of packaged asbestos and a reduced levy
applies to the disposal of waste from donations to
charitable recyclers. Important areas for
consideration include the optimal use of the
waste levy to address materials including clean
fill, shredder floc, the use of materials for landfill
cover (for example, for ‘organic’ material where it
does not meet the Australian Standard for
Composts, Soil Conditioners and Mulches – 4454)
and waste diverted to waste to energy facilities.
“Significant work has been undertaken through reforming the regulatory settings
for the waste management and resource recovery industry to achieve industry
certainty and improved environmental outcomes.”
Page | 82
Waste reform, litter and illegal dumping
What happens if we don’t take action?
x Uncertainty and an unfair playing field.
x Continued issues including:
o static or growing stockpiles
o potentially reusable ‘fill materials’ ending up at landfill due to development pressures
o illegal dumping
o waste promoted as ‘product’ and waste levy avoidance
o issues around ensuring environmental risks not properly tested
o problematic wastes not managed appropriately.
x Poor amenity and potential for decreasing land and property values.
What is possible through action?
x A framework to provide the right settings to protect the environment, balanced with supporting the
economic potential from the waste and resource recovery sector.
x A level playing field.
x Optimal operation of the waste levy, reflecting real costs.
x Continued focus to encourage greater resource recovery, rather than disposal of recoverable
resources to landfill.
Priority actions
x Review financial instruments, penalties and on-the-spot fines to reflect real costs and impacts.
x Support the continued implementation of the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy.
x Continued development and implementation of waste reform initiatives including in relation to mass
balance reporting, waste levy collection, assessment of waste derived materials, stockpile
management controls, product bans and landfill bans.
x Implement litter reduction strategies and public place recycling.
x Preventing the development of new landfills to service metropolitan Adelaide.
x Apply financial instruments to drive change.
x Provide education, enforcement action and disincentives for dumping.
x Encourage councils to work with the Environment Protection Authority on measures to support illegal
dumping prevention and prosecution and enforcement of clean-up costs.
x Ban from landfill materials that could be disposed of through strongly performing markets, having
regard to metropolitan and non-metropolitan contexts.
x Identify and maximise opportunities to increase awareness and link environmental values with
reduced litter, illegal dumping and associated impacts.
x Continue work through the Australian Government under the National Waste Policy and Product
Stewardship Act 2011 to advocate for better national systems in relation to e-waste, hazardous
materials and product stewardship.
Page | 83
Competitiveness and innovation South Australia has a vision to be internationally
recognised as a leader in green industry
development, the circular economy and recycling
and resource recovery. Supporting innovation and
business are vital to achieving this vision. Green
Industries SA’s Commercialisation of Innovation
Program facilitates investment in globally relevant
technologies and innovations.
Developing opportunities for South Australian
businesses to export their expertise and develop
solutions that are fit-for-purpose in other
jurisdictions will contribute to growth in green
industries sectors.
Leadership training and certification in the waste
management sector will also be a continued focus
area. An example is Green Industries SA’s Global
Leadership Program on the Circular Economy,
which was launched at the Eighth Regional 3R
Forum in Asia and Pacific, in Indore, India, in April
2018. The program facilitates business-to-
business introductions to influential Asia Pacific
decision-makers in environmental sectors.
Competitiveness and innovation
What happens if we don’t take action?
x Missed opportunities to:
o drive innovation, technologies and research into long-standing waste issues, which could
contribute to a circular economy
o drive potential economic benefits for South Australia in commercialising this growth.
What is possible through action?
9 Build on South Australia’s leadership and global reputation in green industry and resource recovery.
9 Waste and resource recovery sector growth through innovation, investment in technologies, and
market support.
9 Helping businesses find markets for their technologies and services.
9 Reducing South Australia’s dependence on overseas exports of recyclable materials and import of
technologies.
9 Building knowledge and upskilling industry professionals.
Priority actions
¾ Encourage and promote the development of sustainable local, national and international markets for
re-manufactured and recycled products.
¾ Help businesses find overseas markets for their waste management knowledge and skills.
¾ Identify support opportunities for business, such as national and state-based initiatives and grants
that can assist businesses in relation to waste and resource efficiency.
¾ Help businesses reduce their costs through more efficient use of raw materials, water, energy and
reduced trade waste disposal.
Page | 84
¾ Promote innovation in business sustainability and encourage industry-to-industry links, collaborative
consumption (for example shared access/monetisation of underused assets) and supply chain
initiatives for local benefits, including job creation.
¾ Identify business leaders who can assist with industry education and generate change across sectors
and through supply chains.
¾ Attract and encourage business to develop and grow new, high value-added re-manufacturing
enterprises.
¾ Investigate the potential for web-based platforms and/or mobile applications and processing
technology to foster progress in generating a circular economy.
¾ Reduce South Australia’s dependence on overseas exports of recyclable materials through enhanced
reprocessing and re-manufacturing into new products for domestic consumption.
¾ Support the commercialisation of technologies and innovations in the waste management and
resource recovery sector.
¾ Encourage collaborative platforms that bring together researchers, sector case studies and pilot
industry projects that support progress towards a circular economy.
¾ Support the development of soft infrastructure, skills and capabilities to attract infrastructure
investment and growth towards a circular economy.
¾ Support the development of programs for the waste and resource management industry to build
knowledge and upskill industry professionals.
“Green Industries SA provides investment support … to facilitate the growth and
establishment of globally relevant technologies and innovations.”
Page | 85
Research and development As we extend our knowledge and focus on
transitioning to the circular economy, we begin to
extend beyond known approaches to recycling
and re-use. Research will underpin and inform
how we address the challenges of wasteful
consumption, change behaviours, and develop
new technologies to address emerging challenges.
Research priorities will be evaluated over time.
Research and development
What happens if we don’t take action?
x Missed opportunities to develop and introduce evidence-based technologies to change waste
management and resource recovery and reuse processes.
Forced to rely on a poor evidence base to support long-term behaviour change in waste management
and the circular economy.
x Inadequate planning for tertiary and training needs to build knowledge and capacity to perform future
roles, particularly in the circular economy.
x Missed opportunities to connect elements of waste management and progressing a circular economy
to other research disciplines.
x Loss of talent to other jurisdictions.
What is possible through action?
9 Build an evidence base to support positive, long-term behaviour change, innovation and policy
responses to support a transition to a circular economy.
9 Establish collaborative research projects to bring together knowledge about elements of waste
management, progressing a circular economy and behaviour change from a multitude of academic
disciplines, from architecture to childhood development, while considering social, environmental
and economic aspects.
9 Build development, training and tertiary qualification opportunities and graduate capacity in circular
economy, waste management and resource recovery.
9 Encourage collaboration in research projects across tertiary institutions, nationally and
internationally.
9 Encourage local businesses to find solutions and opportunities.
Priority actions
¾ Identify changes within a product’s lifecycle with major effects on energy, waste and materials use
and greenhouse gas production.
¾ Attract funding partners, such as the Australian Research Council and industry, for research projects.
¾ Foster relationships between industry and government, capitalising on government research and
innovation capabilities.
¾ Encourage the development of graduate and post-graduate capacity and accredited training.
¾ Research sustainable behaviour change and apply findings to waste generation, production and
consumption.
¾ Support research into durable products or components that encourage re-use and refurbishment.
Page | 86
¾ Support research into new economic and business models in the circular economy.
¾ Encourage industry to analyse the flow of materials and other resources in a product’s lifecycle.
¾ Encourage research into emerging waste streams.
¾ Encourage application of the research into new innovations.
¾ Identify, recognise and adopt testing, research and standards developed in other jurisdictions in
relation to sustainability, waste issues and the circular economy.
¾ Commercialise research solutions, technologies and designs that improve sustainable outcomes.
Page | 87
Energy from waste ‘Energy from waste’ (or ‘waste to energy’) is a
method of treating waste to recover energy from
its components, and can significantly reduce the
volume of materials that require landfill disposal.
The technology comes in different forms, the
most common being mass burn incineration,
gasification, anaerobic digestion, biogas, refuse-
derived fuel and pyrolysis.
A diverse range of waste streams is being targeted
to produce energy. Calorific material that would
otherwise be recycled (often over several or more
cycles) may be burned or processed for a one-off
energy dividend. Recycling and reuse are placed
higher on the waste management hierarchy than
energy recovery.
The efficiency of energy conversion greatly
depends on the composition of the input
feedstock and the specific type of energy from
waste technology employed. In general, this
energy conversion efficiency is lower than for
typical facilities generating energy from fossil
fuels.
For some ‘energy from waste’ processes, the
business case is focussed on the fee for receiving
and processing the waste (known as the ‘gate
fee’) rather than on-selling energy into the grid.
These processes can also generate by-products
such as fly ash, char, slag and residues that need
to be disposed of, in some cases through
specialised hazardous waste facilities.
Due to high capital and operating costs,
technologies such as thermal combustion plants
typically require long-term (20 years or more)
contracts that ‘lock in’ a secure supply of
feedstock material. Locking-in feedstock materials
over such a long period of time prevents the
adoption of new tools or technologies that may
emerge during the term of the contract.
The South Australian Environment Protection
Authority (EPA) released its Consultation Draft
EPA Position Statement: Thermal Energy from
Waste Activities (EPA, 2019b) in April 2019. This
followed consultation in 2017 on a previous
paper, Enhancing resource recovery and
discussing the place of energy recovery, which
attracted feedback from industry, local
government and peak bodies.
The EPA’s draft position statement provides
direction about:
x where and by whom ‘energy from waste’
technologies are used and the policy
frameworks that apply
x how such proposals could be adopted in South
Australia, including:
o to safeguard the community and protect
the environment by managing potential
impacts (such as siting, air quality, noise
and odour) from waste management
o how to achieve maximum resource
recovery
o the role of the waste levy.
A National Waste Working group representing the
heads of all state and jurisdictional EPAs (HEPA)
also plays a role in supporting the development of
‘energy from waste’ national principles.
This Waste Strategy advocates for continued work
to ensure ‘energy from waste’ activity and targets
align with the waste hierarchy and are framed
within a long-term circular economy perspective
Page | 88
that prioritises the prevention, reuse and
recycling of waste materials.
Green Industries SA maintains there are
considerable employment and economic benefits
associated with resource recovery, if there is
source separation of materials and where
materials are circulated in the economy through
reuse and remanufacturing.
As noted by Circle Economy (2017), technologies
and processes such as landfill disposal and energy
from waste can provide the foundation for linear
consumption patterns, whereas contemporary
waste management approaches such as reuse,
remanufacturing, refurbishment and material
recycling promote higher-value loops and
promote a more circular economy. The Creating
Value, the Potential Benefits of a Circular
Economy in South Australia paper recommends
more source separation of biogenic materials
(organics) from other anthropogenic materials
such as metals, paper, and plastics in order to
maximise reuse. However, it is acknowledged that
there will be a percentage of unrecoverable mixed
residuals remaining within a transitioning or even
an established circular economy.
The State Government will continue to promote
the evidence-based view that ‘energy from waste’
should support viable options for higher-order
beneficial uses while considering the impacts on
businesses and supply chains that compete for
the same feedstock materials. This Waste Strategy
continues to support the efficient recovery of
energy from residual waste and niche waste
streams through the use of the best available
technologies for local conditions. This may include
small-scale anaerobic digestion plants and
regional bio-gas facilities. The result will be
environmental benefits and job and economic
opportunities.
Energy from waste
What happens if we don’t take action?
x Potential economic losses by industry due to investments in waste treatment assets not aligned with a
long-term circular economy perspective.
x Potential for materials to not be used in ways that maximise their value in the waste management
hierarchy (for example: avoid, reduce, reuse and recycle).
x South Australia’s position on source separation and recirculating materials back into the economy will
be challenged.
What is possible through action?
x Certainty and clarity on the regulatory framework within South Australia, supporting better
investment decisions.
x South Australia’s leadership in specific and broader waste management policies retained.
x Maximising the value of materials according to the waste management hierarchy and circular
economy principles.
Priority actions
¾ Consistent with the waste hierarchy, continue to review resource-recovery businesses that source
waste materials for energy recovery to ensure optimal outcomes within the circular economy.
Page | 89
¾ EPA to revise the regulatory framework to support investment decisions on ‘energy from waste’
developments and finalise its position statement on thermal energy from waste.
¾ Make available information on the environmental and health implications of ‘energy from waste’
technologies to support understanding and evidence-based evaluation.
¾ Energy sector to outline planning and grid connection requirements and processes for ‘energy from
waste’ development.
¾ Support and encourage anaerobic digestion and other ‘energy from waste’ technology demonstration
programs at precinct/clusters level, based on feasibility assessments.
¾ Consider how the waste levy and other financial tools can help develop or encourage ‘energy from
waste’ technology development and adoption.
Page | 90
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